No. 10 Bulldogs take out No. 11 Grand View in dominant fashion

By Jacob Knabel on Mar. 28, 2021 in Volleyball

DES MOINES, Iowa – It hasn’t taken long for the 10th-ranked Concordia University Volleyball team to get back into a groove this spring. Ten days after a four-set win over then No. 24 Ottawa University (Kan.), the Bulldogs were even better on Saturday (March 27) when they handled 11th-ranked Grand View University (Iowa) in straight sets, 25-15, 25-19, 25-19, in action in Des Moines, Iowa.

Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad has moved to 14-3 overall with postseason play up next on the schedule. Concordia is working on positioning itself for a second-straight trip to the national tournament.

“I loved our focus today,” Boldt said. “We set the tone early with our serving and our defense was really good because of that. Offensively we took big swings when it was there and we hit smart shots when we needed to. Cam (Opfer) and Kara (Stark) played an efficient match. Tara (Callahan) set a balanced offense. Kalee Wiltfong came up with a huge hustle play in the second set that built some momentum for us. I’m really proud of our attitude, effort and communication against a really good Grand View team.”

The Bulldogs outhit the Vikings, .291 to .128, for the match and got 13 kills from Stark and 10 from Opfer. Concordia went on a roll in the first set with a 7-0 run that provided a 15-8 advantage. Grand View failed to make a serious push in an opening set that saw it hit in the red (-.073 hitting percentage). Opfer put away the second set with a kill while match point came via a Viking attack error.

Defensively, Concordia held Grand View in check with the help of three blocks by Gabi Nordaker and double-digit dig totals from Marissa Hoerman (16), Tristin Mason (13), Callahan (10) and Opfer (10). The back row of the Bulldogs also played a key role in not surrendering a single service ace. Hoerman registered the only ace on either side.

Concordia held a significant advantage in kills, 47-34. Callahan mounted 34 assists while spurring the attack. Wiltfong floored eight kills on 13 swings (.462), Arleigh Costello added seven kills and Nordaker chipped in with six kills.

The Vikings began this season at 15-0 before hitting a current three-match slide. In other action against GPAC opponents, Grand View defeated Midland in five sets and was beaten by Dordt in straight sets. The Vikings got a team high of nine kills from Alexa Aldrich-Ingram on Saturday.

Based on the current NAIA top 25 poll, the Bulldogs own five wins over ranked opponents: No. 11 Grand View, No. 12 Dordt, No. 18 Midland (two) and No. 22 Ottawa. Two of Concordia’s three losses have come against foes ranked in the top 10: No. 1 Jamestown and No. 7 Northwestern.

The Bulldogs will begin what they hope to be a long postseason run when they host Dakota Wesleyan (12-8, 8-8 GPAC) at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday, April 3 in the GPAC quarterfinals. The winner will advance to play in the semifinals on April 7. Tickets for the April 3 match will be sold online here: https://www.cune.edu/athletics/tickets.