SIOUX CITY, Iowa – In just its second five-set match all season, the second-ranked Concordia University, Nebraska Volleyball team survived the scare on the road. Even after going up 4-0 in the fifth, the Bulldogs were forced to scrap their way to a victory, 25-23, 18-25, 25-27, 25-17, 15-9, over Morningside, a national qualifier in each of the past two seasons. The tension in Sioux City, Iowa, on Friday (Oct. 3) finally ceased when senior Molli Martin stuffed a Mustang attack for match point.
Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad moved to 14-1 overall (7-0 GPAC) with leg one of its Sioux City road trip complete. The program has captured 17 straight GPAC regular season matches (two in five sets).
“Credit to Morningside,” Boldt said. “They were really bringing it. We had a theme this week. We had a Kobe (Bryant) quote: ‘I play to figure the game out.’ We did that. We made a lot of adjustments. We were hitting the ball super hard, but it wasn’t going down. We adjusted and started hitting some different shots and it opened some things up for us. It was just little things like that. We trusted each other and took it one point at a time. I thought it was a gritty win.”
Fittingly for this edition of Concordia Volleyball, the visitors used their blocking to turn the tide in their favor. The Bulldogs stonewalled Morningside with seven fourth-set blocks before ultimately ending the night on a stuff. The Mustangs hit negative in the fourth (-.026) and fifth (-.077) sets while watching the upset bid slip through their fingers. In the back row, budding Concordia freshman libero Emma Brueggemann came through with 34 digs.
In the middle of the fifth set, Morningside clung within one (8-7) before the Bulldog attack got rolling. Point Nos. 11, 12, 13 and 14, came via kills from Maddie Paulsen, Molli Martin, Ella Waters and Ashley Keck, respectively. Paulsen also emerged with a booming kill while sliding to her right for point No. 8. In the end, the Bulldogs’ grit and depth of talent won out.
Concordia was pushed to the max after it failed to close out the third set. A marathon of a rally that ended with an Ashley Keck kill made it 24-21. Morningside responded by taking the next four points and eventually grabbed the 2-1 match advantage via an errant Bulldog attack for set point. The Mustangs came after Concordia with the likes of double-figure kill attackers in Payten Lode (19), Malia Fichtl (12) and Emma Haren (11).
But the going got tougher for Morningside (9-8, 3-4 GPAC) in sets four and five. Said Boldt, “We started owning the net. We had a mentality where the ball hits our hands, the ball goes down. It was part of figuring the game out. We had our block set up in a good spot. We adjusted from where we started the game and went more down the line and digging cross court. When we’re in the right spot technically, we’re a really good blocking team.”
The Bulldogs finished with 15 blocks (to the Mustangs’ seven). Those who contributed to at least four blocks were Ava Greene (seven), Martin (five), Kya Scott (five), Paulsen (four) and Ella Waters (four). Four Concordia hitters also reached double figures in kills: Keck (15), Scott (12), Waters (11) and Martin (10). Keck added 23 digs. At setter, Ella Brueggemann, Lily Psencik and Savannah Shelburne all made an impact. Boldt commended Shelburne for giving the team a lift late in the match. In addition, Emma Brueggemann posted two of the team’s five aces.
The result gave Ben Boldt his 168th win as head coach, moving him into sole possession of the No. 2 spot on the program’s all-time list. He passed Vicki Boye (167). Boldt owns the highest winning percentage (.764) of any coach in school history.
As part of the weekend stay in Sioux City, the Bulldogs will also take on Briar Cliff (8-10, 2-5 GPAC) at 5 p.m. CT on Saturday. In Friday night action, the Chargers were beaten in three sets at home by No. 18 Midland. Concordia has won each of the past seven meetings with Briar Cliff. Max Country will have live coverage from Briar Cliff.