CRETE, Neb. – In both outings this week, second-ranked Concordia University, Nebraska Volleyball shook off a downer in the first set and exercised control over the next three. The Bulldogs continued their series dominance of Doane on Saturday (Sept. 20), taking a 21-25, 25-17, 25-13, 25-22, win inside the Haddix Center in Crete. After committing 12 attack errors in the opening set, Concordia tightened up and limited the hitting miscues to 13 total over the second through fourth sets.
Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad remains unbeaten in GPAC play at 4-0 (11-1 overall). As a program, the Bulldogs have won 14 of the last 15 clashes with the Tigers.
“I was a little disappointed in how we started – slow,” Boldt said. “When we play, we have to expect the best. I thought we got a little casual in the middle of the set. We got caught in a rotation where they went on like a seven-point run. That really flipped the momentum of the match. That was kind of a tough run. That happens in volleyball because of some matchup stuff. We have to stay gritty in those moments. I don’t know if we close out the match like we did if we didn’t go through what we did in the first set.”
Concordia looked the part of the NAIA’s No. 2 team as the match wore on. Aggressive serving (eight aces as a team) helped tee up the Bulldogs’ standouts in the front row. All-American Ashley Keck produced 14 of her match high 19 kills over the final two sets as she found a groove. Additionally, Concordia’s blocking is a constant. It came up with nine blocks on Saturday with middle Ava Greene contributing to five of them.
The best stretch of play for the Bulldogs occurred in the third set when it hit .345 with just one attack error. On the other side of the net, Doane hit .000 and was blocked three times in the third set. The Tigers’ top two attackers both finished with double-digit attack errors while up against one of the nation’s best defensive teams. For the match, Concordia outhit Doane, .182 to .075.
Four Bulldogs were credited with contributing to three or more blocks: Greene (five), Molli Martin (four), Ella Waters (four) and Addie Kirkegaard (three). In the back row, Emma Brueggemann (14), Keck (13) and Shandy Faalii (12) each hit double figures in digs. On the attack, Kikegaard and Martin chipped in with eight kills apiece. Keck added three aces to her stat line while two aces were landed by Faalii. Lily Psencik (23 assists) and Ella Brueggemann (20 assists) quarterbacked the offense.
Said Boldt, “I thought our floor defense got better as the match went on. Our blocking could have been better, but Doane was hitting some different shots. They were keeping their attacks variable. It threw us off a little bit on our block. We stayed steady and our floor defense got a whole lot better throughout the course of the match.”
Doane (9-8, 1-3 GPAC) also played Friday night and picked up a five-set nonconference win over Peru State College. In Saturday’s match, Natalie Wood and Brooke Larsen paced the Tiger attack with 14 and 11 kills, respectively.
Another in-state matchup is on the docket for Wednesday when the Bulldogs are scheduled to host Hastings (4-10, 1-3 GPAC). First serve of the varsity match is set for 7:30 p.m. CT. Concordia has won each of the past 10 series matchups with the Broncos.