MARION, Ind. – Fittingly, it was a dominant Thursday (Aug. 21) at the gym for senior Ashley Keck as she accomplished a milestone achieved by only 10 other players in the history of Concordia University, Nebraska Volleyball. Keck flew past 1,000 career kills as the fourth-ranked Bulldogs vanquished Columbia College (Mo.), 25-17, 23-25, 25-13, 25-18, and MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.), 25-23, 25-15, 25-20, on day one of the Power Quad hosted by Indiana Wesleyan University. Both of Thursday’s foes received votes in the NAIA preseason coaches’ poll.
Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad took care of business heading into Friday’s much anticipated clash with the defending national champions. The Bulldogs are 3-0 on the young season.
In breaking down the night cap, Boldt told Max Country radio, “There’s this idea of making the ball better than the contact before. So if it’s not a great pass, make the next contact better. We’re always trying to do what we call, ‘better the ball.’ I think we were scrappy to keep the ball off the floor and do a good job to the get second ball up in the air so we could get a good swing on it.”
Earlier in the day, Boldt sated, “We have to be ready to go no matter what. When people play us, I think we’re one of those teams that they circle on their schedule. We’re going to get everybody’s best shot. If we understand that, we’ll put ourselves in a good position.”
A returning NAIA First Team All-American, Keck hit the 1,000-career kill mark early in the third set when she tapped an overpass into a vacant area. The Kearney, Neb., native smoldered inside Luckey Arena on Thursday, piling up a combined 32 kills while hitting a blistering .435. Keck paced the team in kills in both outings – 17 kills versus Columbia and 15 kills versus MNU.
The only downer on the day occurred in the second set at the hands of Columbia, a national tournament regular. In that stretch, the Bulldogs cut a 24-20 deficit to 24-23 before Nazarena Avila emerged with a set-point kill. The celebration was short-lived for the Cougars, who hit just .083 and .067 in the third and fourth sets, respectively. Concordia held a .252 to .083 hitting advantage for the match. Ella Waters backed Keck by tallying 13 kills on 32 swings.
It was more of the same in match No. 2 after a scare in the first set. MidAmerica Nazarene appeared to tie at 24-24 before a ruling was changed to a Keck kill for set point. The Bulldogs proceeded to seize control behind a frontline that accumulated 10 blocks (to MNU’s three). Senior Molli Martin contributed to six of those blocks while Keck notched four block assists.
In addition to Keck’s 32 kills on Thursday, three teammates totaled at least 10 kills: Waters (16), Ava Greene (11) and Laynee Baker (10). Other statistical leaders included Ella Brueggemann in assists, Emma Brueggemann and Shandy Faalii in aces (three), Emma Brueggemann in digs (35) and Martin in blocks (nine).
Keck becomes the third player during the Boldts’ tenure to collect 1,000 kills. Said Ben Boldt of the milestone, “That was awesome. What a way to do it too – on an overpass. It was kind of a weird play. That’s how she gets her kills. It’s not necessarily always the traditional bump-set-spike. She tips, she rolls – she does it in different ways, which makes her a little bit unique in the player that she is. It was awesome to see the team erupt and have the 1,000-kill signs and all that.”
A showdown awaits the Bulldogs on Friday as they prepare themselves to take on two-time defending national champion Indiana Wesleyan (2-0). First serve is set for 11 a.m. CT / 12 p.m. ET from Marion, Ind. In Thursday’s action, the Wildcats took care of MidAmerica Nazarene in four sets and Columbia in three. Concordia edged IWU in five sets at last season’s Power Quad in Columbia, Mo. The Bulldogs are attempting to go 3-0 at the Power Quad for a second straight year. 104.9 Max Country is on site of live coverage of all Bulldog matches in Marion.
Said Boldt of the matchup with the Wildcats, “Being in situations like this prepares us for stuff that’s about to come – the GPAC and the postseason … Indiana Wesleyan is going to be really tough. We’re going to have to serve and pass well. Those are things that are more controllable from our end of things.”