Of the 19 uniformed players who made up the national tournament roster, nine were seniors. In other words, the Concordia University, Nebraska Volleyball team that emerged this spring semester looked much different than the one that made a historic run to the 2025 NAIA National Semifinals. The departures of All-Americans Ashley Keck and Ella Waters and their fellow classmates leave the door wide open for the next wave of stars to make its mark.
Now the winningest coach in program history, Ben Boldt has presided over one of the nation’s most consistently excellent programs. Ben and wife Angie have continually churned out national tournament bids and GPAC Championship Match appearances. During the spring, tangible accomplishments are disregarded in the name of progress and improvement.
“There’s a lot of hard work going on right now,” said Boldt in an interview late in the spring. “There are a handful that are out there on the floor getting their opportunity now. We graduated a big senior class, so time moves on and we get back to work. It’s been fun getting to practice with the players. We’re making progress. It looks different, but it’s still volleyball.”
In year nine for the Boldts, they are harkening back to their first season at Concordia in reintroducing the team motto of “champs before champs.” The idea is that champions behave like champions before they actually win a championship. It’s a process-oriented emphasis that has yielded wildly impressive results throughout the tenures of the Boldts. The current challenge is to redefine the 2026 team after graduating the winningest four-year class (by percentage – .854) in school history.
Ben Boldt is pleased with the leadership he’s seeing from the likes of seniors-to-be in Ava Greene and Maddie Paulsen (a junior in terms of eligibility). Greene earned Honorable Mention All-America honors last season from the AVCA as the team’s leading blocker (1.22 per set). Greene and Paulsen are a big part of the team’s culture.
“She’s got a lot of game experience,” said Ben Boldt of Greene. “This spring, we’ve been resting her. Towards the end of last year, she was kind of grinding it out. We’re slowly ramping her up in the spring. It’s been a little bit different spring for her. I still fully expect her to be ready to go for the fall. She’ll be someone that will give us a lot of leadership out there. Ava and Maddie Paulsen are two people in the same class that have earned the respect of our team with the work they have put in. Maddie’s been a big vocal leader on our team. Those are two people who have really taken the lead there.”
Despite holding Greene back this spring, Concordia displayed positive on-court showings in practice and in scrimmages. The program also held an alumni match. In significant developments, the Bulldogs moved junior-to-be Shandy Faalii to an attacking role and Makenna Starkey became the track & field high jump record holder as just a freshman. The shift for Faalii was initiated to take advantage of her athleticism and to help make up for the loss of production from star Ashley Keck (who tallied more than 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career).
Part of the roster transformation revolves around the implementation of a new setter. Ella Brueggemann got her feet wet in that spot as a freshman and will have an opportunity to fill the role held down mostly by Lily Psencik and Savannah Shelburne this past season. In the back row, Ella’s twin sister Emma Brueggemann figures to serve as an anchor at libero once again. Emma was honored as the 2025 GPAC Freshman of the Year.
As Boldt explained, “We moved Shandy Faalii from a DS role into more of a front row role. She’s been hitting the ball really hard. She can jump out of the gym. That’s been fun. It looks different. We’re moving some pieces around and seeing what our best team will be.”
An attacking weapon was added in the form of transfer Bella Hedke, the younger sister of former Bulldog powerlifter Jack Hedke. Bella joined the team for the spring semester with an eye on earning playing time in the middle. The Marysville, Kan., native garnered NCJAA Second Team All-America honors in 2024 and has one season of eligibility remaining. Bella spent last season at Wayne State College. Come the fall, the Bulldogs will add a large group of freshmen into the program.
“We have about 12 incoming freshmen for the fall,” Boldt said. “This spring, getting Bella, she fit pretty seamlessly into what we’ve done. She’s been a really good fit for Concordia. Her older brother came to Concordia and was a powerlifter here. Her sister-in-law (Taylor) is also a powerlifter here. It’s been a really good fit for the family.”
The new-look Bulldogs won’t get a break in terms of the challenging schedule they will face in 2026. Not all preseason invitational events have been finalized (in terms of game times and opponents), but Concordia expects to play several nationally ranked foes before the conference slate arrives. As a perennial national qualifier, the Bulldogs wouldn’t have it any other way.
While some members of the team scatter for the summer, the program has a way of keeping each other accountable and on task with scheduled workouts. It goes back to the idea of behaving like champions.
“We do something that keeps us connected through the summer,” Boldt said. “We do what we call the ‘selfie challenge.’ Our strength coach puts together a program and they all access it from their phone. They can do it here at Concordia or at home in their gyms wherever they’re at. After you do your workout, you send a selfie to the group. The goal is to get at least 30 of those in over the summer. You do that and you win the selfie challenge. We’ve got a certificate for them and all that kind of stuff. It’s a fun accountability thing that we have. We’ll have some open gyms and some camps during the summer. I want them to be ready when they get back, but I don’t want them to be burnt out. They’ll have a little time to be them during the summer and get prepared for the season. We want to have fun and get better. Those are the goals for the summer.”
The 2026 Concordia Volleyball schedule can be viewed HERE. The Bulldogs are slated to open the new season by hosting York University on Aug. 18.