SIOUX CITY, Iowa – It was a dangerously close call on day one of pool play at the NAIA National Championship tournament. In the end, Ashley Keck was engulfed by her teammates in a celebratory mob as the third-ranked Concordia University, Nebraska Volleyball team held off GPAC rival Dakota Wesleyan in five sets, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22, 20-25, 15-9. Keck came through with five kills in the final set while leading her side through a Wednesday (Dec. 3) evening characterized by ebbs and flows.
The contest marked the sixth time that the Bulldogs have played a five-set match at the national tournament in program history. Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad found a way to win on Wednesday despite trailing 5-2 in the fifth set.
“I was really proud of our composure,” Boldt said. “You gotta work hard and you gotta stay composed in these settings. That was a national tournament match. I’m really proud of the resilience that we showed there. Dakota Wesleyan is a really mentally tough team. This is the second team that we played them this year. I was proud of our mentality.”
A winning mentality was needed on a night when DWU never let Concordia get too far out in front. The Tigers showed a little grit of their own in shaking off a first set they let get away from them. They relinquished a 22-17 lead in the opening set before battling back to take the second and fourth sets. Karly VanDerWerff (team-high 20 kills) and her DWU teammates even roared back from a 13-8 deficit in the fourth set while forcing a fifth.
Considering the magnitude, the Bulldogs’ best stretch of the night came after they went down 5-2 in the fifth set. Concordia made only one hitting error and hit .417 in in the fifth set, finding its finishing punch behind the likes of Keck and Kya Scott (four fifth-set kills), two seniors hoping to continue the ride as long as possible. Keck finished with match-highs of 27 kills and 29 digs to go along with three blocks.
“You can probably tell I’m emotional right now,” Keck told NAIA Women’s Volleyball Report after the match. “This team has been through a lot this year, so I think it’s really going to show what we can do the rest of this tournament together … I think we can clean up some errors. I think we had 10 hitting errors in the first set. There are areas we can clean up in our offense.”
In the defensive battle, DWU slightly outhit the Bulldogs, .138 to .136. In addition to Keck and Scott (11 kills), Concordia’s kills leaders were Ella Waters (nine), Ava Greene (eight) and Maddie Paulsen (seven). Savannah Shelburne (31) and Lily Psencik (27) combined for 58 assists. In the back row, Shandy Faalii (29 digs) and Emma Brueggemann (25 digs) put forth strong efforts. Up front, Molli Martin (seven) and Paulsen (six) led the way in blocks.
Said Boldt, “When anybody’s name is called, they’re ready to play. We had some people struggle in that match and we had people come off the bench ready to go. We talk about that all the time that the strength of our team is our depth. We talk about being able to out-family (the opponent). We have a lot of trust in the team and everybody being ready to go.”
The Tigers (19-12) are making their third national tournament appearance in five years. They countered Keck and the Concordia attack with star libero Lizzie Tyler, who notched 35 digs. DWU nearly capitalized on 38 Bulldog attack errors.
Pool play will continue on Friday when the Bulldogs will clash with No. 14 The Master’s University (Calif.). First serve is set for 6:30 p.m. CT from the Tyson Events Center. Concordia also played the Mustangs in pool play last season and came away with a four-set win. The Bulldogs can lock up a spot in the national quarterfinals with a victory on Friday.