SEWARD, Neb. – There were no signs of a letdown for the top-ranked Concordia University Volleyball team coming off an emotional Friday night win over defending national champion Jamestown. The Bulldogs found energy from within and cruised past Dakota Wesleyan, 25-9, 25-20, 25-20, on Saturday (Oct. 7) afternoon inside Friedrich Arena. Concordia’s first 19 points of the match came via kills as Bree Burtwistle masterfully distributed the ball to the team’s array of attackers.
Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad has remained unscathed at 17-0 (10-0 GPAC) and sits alone atop the GPAC standings with six contests remaining in the regular season.
What fueled the Bulldogs fewer than 24 hours after the high of knocking off Jamestown, you might ask? Said Boldt, “I think a lot of them go to Scooter’s, so there you go. Good thing we have one in Seward now.”
“That was the challenge – being able to have a big energy type of night last night and come back here for an afternoon game. It’s a quick turnaround. Being able to get refocused and reset was the challenge today for sure.”
A 2022 national quarterfinalist, Dakota Wesleyan (15-11, 5-5 GPAC) was coming off a significant victory of its own having taken down No. 10 Midland in four sets in Fremont on Friday. There’s just something unique about this Bulldog team, which has the emotional maturity to leave the past behind and lock in on the present. In this matchup of All-American middles, Concordia’s Gabi Nordaker shined in striking for 15 kills and four blocks while hitting .462.
Burtwistle and company had DWU looking all out of sorts in the first set, which saw the Bulldogs hammer away for 22 kills and a .486 hitting percentage. Concordia pounded 18 more kills in the second set and another 15 in the third. Not only did the Bulldogs have the Tigers overmatched at the net, their back row play was much crisper. Concordia held a dig advantage of 71-50 behind 17 digs from Camryn Opfer and 15 from Ashley Keck. Opfer moved past 1,500 digs for her career.
As veterans who have been through the rigors of the GPAC, Burtwistle and Opfer help set the tone with their attitude and effort. At some point earlier in the day, they had to forget about the Jamestown win. Said Burtwistle, “It was very difficult to fall asleep last night just thinking about everything. Camryn sent me a Snapchat this morning asking if last night was a dream because we’ve been wanting to win against Jamestown for a long time.”
Burtwistle finished Saturday’s match with 43 assists, eight digs, four kills, two blocks and an ace. She helped steer Concordia to a .315 hitting percentage. Nordaker was followed in the kill department by Opfer (10), Keck (nine), Maddie Paulsen (eight) and Carly Rodaway (eight). Libero Becca Gebhardt added nine digs and three assists.
Returning First Team All-American middle Ady Dwight posted six kills and five blocks but was held to just a .103 hitting percentage. The Tigers hit .078 as a team and mustered only 22 kills for the match. Concordia managed to avenge last season’s loss in Mitchell, S.D.
The Boldts couldn’t have drawn up a much better weekend at home. Said Ben Boldt, “JV came in and took care of business and varsity came in and took care of business. We’re one team. We’re supporting each other. You cannot take GPAC wins for granted. That’s something we’ve learned over the years. Enjoy it when you have it. I want to make sure we get rest and get ready to go for our next opponent.”
The Bulldogs will get a break in the schedule as they take a mid-week bye while looking forward to next Saturday (Oct. 14)’s trip to No. 2 Northwestern (17-2, 8-2 GPAC). First serve of the varsity match that day is slated for 3 p.m. CT from the Bultman Center in Orange City, Iowa. In the one 2022 meeting between the Bulldogs and Red Raiders, Concordia triumphed in five sets in Seward.