Idle stretch to end with visit from Midland, trip to Dordt

By Jacob Knabel on Sep. 28, 2020 in Volleyball

SEWARD, Neb. – Circumstances outside of its control have prevented the Concordia University Volleyball team from taking the floor since the straight-sets home win over Hastings on Sept. 19. Two scheduled matches last week were postponed and have been slotted into future dates. The Bulldogs now look forward to hosting Midland on Wednesday before a trip to Dordt on Friday. The match in Sioux Center was originally slated for Halloween.

This Week

Wednesday, Sept. 30 vs. Midland (2-3, 1-2 GPAC), 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 2 at Dordt (5-1, 4-1 GPAC), 7:30 p.m.

Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad remains at 3-0 with straight-sets wins over Midland, Doane and Hastings. When given the opportunity to play, Concordia has been remarkably effective, especially considering the lack of rhythm to the season. The most recent action yielded an NAIA National Player of the Week in freshman Gabi Nordaker. Nordaker has been a major reason why the Bulldogs sport national rankings of third in kills per set (14.67), fourth in hitting percentage (.291) and 12th in blocks per set (2.33). Nordaker is the current individual NAIA national leader in hitting percentage at a .552 clip.

Elsewhere on the NAIA leaderboard, Tara Callahan ranks No. 1 in assists per set (12.22), Nordaker ranks fourth in blocks per set (1.67) and 14th in kills per set (3.89), Marissa Hoerman ranks 15th in aces per set (0.67) and digs per set (5.11) and Camryn Opfer ranks 21st in hitting percentage (.344). Five Bulldogs have accumulated 20 or more kills: Nordaker (35), Opfer (27), Kara Stark (24), Arleigh Costello (21) and Kalee Wiltfong (20).

Concordia will attempt to sweep the regular-season series from Midland, which has suffered three losses – all against high level opponents. Head Coach Paul Giesselmann can also lean upon a strong setter in the form of Hope Leimbach (sixth nationally in assists per set). The team’s top hitter has been Taliyah Flores, who is averaging 3.23 kills per set. The Warriors own wins over Missouri Baptist University and Doane. Midland narrowly missed out on qualifying for the national tournament in 2019.

Dordt is 5-1 with its lone loss coming versus Jamestown. The Defenders are also slated to play at Jamestown on Tuesday. Champion of the 2018 GPAC regular season, Dordt is regularly known as a strong blocking team. The Defenders are averaging 2.76 blocks per set behind star Brenna Krommendyk. Dordt is another team looking to return to the national tournament after missing out last season. Entering 2020, Head Coach Chad Hanson owned an overall record of 217-86 with the Defenders.

As the schedule stands, the Bulldogs will play only once next week – Saturday, Oct. 10 in a showdown with defending GPAC champion Northwestern (2-0, 0-0 GPAC). The Red Raiders have not yet begun conference play. Every conference team other than Northwestern, Concordia (3-0) and Jamestown (2-0) has lost at least once within GPAC play.