SEWARD, Neb. – No, not this time. The Concordia University Volleyball team, playing to ensure a playoff spot, rallied back from a 2-0 deficit to knock off 15th-ranked Dakota Wesleyan, 22-25, 26-28, 25-10, 25-19, 15-10, Saturday (Oct. 23) afternoon. The victory helped relieve a season’s worth of frustration in similar moments. A day after falling to No. 1 Jamestown, the Bulldogs provided fans inside Friedrich Arena with a thrilling conclusion.
Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad improved to 12-10 overall (7-7 GPAC) with its fourth win this season over a team with a top 25 ranking at the time of the match.
“They took ownership of their own play,” Boldt said. “That’s the team I know. Starting in the third set, I know that that’s the team we can be and when we start to own that and start to hold each other accountable for it. I’m a little emotional after that one. I was just very proud of how we competed through that. I started crying there at the end after we got the last point.”
The Bulldogs flipped the switch over the final three sets, owning an advantage of 47-25 in kills over that timeframe. Coming into the match Concordia had gone 0-for-7 in matches that went the complete five sets, making this win feel that much more emotional. The Bulldogs racked up 81 kills throughout the five sets, outhitting the Tigers .319 to .176.
Camryn Opfer led the Bulldogs with 25 kills, 20 digs and five blocks in the match in a starring performance. Gabi Nordaker chipped in 16 kills (and four blocks) herself while hitting a sizzling.556. Nordaker put away match point with a kill. Tara Callahan did what she does best, accumulating 50 assists. She teamed up with Bree Burtwistle (24 assists) in a 6-2 system this weekend.
Said Opfer, “We were connecting. We could see it in each other’s eyes that we wanted this more than them.”
Early in the match, the Bulldogs were plagued with service errors. Concordia finished the match with a total of 16 service errors. Midway through, Lexie Kreizel (18 digs) proved to be the spark the team needed. She worked in tandem with Rebecca Gebhardt (14 digs) in the back row.
Said Boldt, “Props to Lexie Kreizel – I thought she did a good job coming in and sparking our team. It was something that we needed. The flow out there was just connected.”
Across the net, DWU’s Addy Dwight (11 kills) stands out as one of the very best middles in the GPAC. The Bulldogs managed to limit Dwight to a .267 hitting percentage. Abigail Brunsing led her side with 12 kills. It was a tough weekend journey to Nebraska for the Tigers (21-7, 9-5 GPAC), who also fell in straight sets at No. 6 Midland on Friday.
Concordia will travel to Orange City, Iowa, to take on Northwestern (16-7, 8-5 GPAC) in its lone match next week. The two squads last met in the 2020 GPAC tournament where Northwestern knocked the Bulldogs out in the semifinals. The matchup will get underway at 3 p.m. CT next Saturday (Oct. 30).
