Bend-don’t-break Bulldogs sweep Chargers after tense third set
Concordia volleyball breaks after a timeout.
Photo: Christian Myers
By Keith Siek
No. 2 Bulldog volleyball survived a late-game deficit against Briar Cliff University on Friday, as Concordia put together a 9-4 run with their backs against the wall to win the final set 29-27 in front of an ecstatic student section.
Concordia fended off the Chargers with 25-15, 25-20 wins in the first and second sets. Briar Cliff went back and forth with the Bulldogs in a third set that featured 13 ties with no team’s lead exceeding three points, culminating in the high-leverage finish to the match.
Briar Cliff held a 24-22 lead on the brink of taking their first set of the match when sophomore Makenna Starkey delivered a kill that the Chargers could not handle. Concordia gained the serve and tied the contest at a 24-24 deadlock one point later after an attack error by the Chargers.
Friedrich Arena came alive with the tie as they cheered on their Bulldogs to a hopeful victory. The teams traded blows until a 27-27 tie when junior Maddie Paulsen smashed a kill into the Briar Cliff defense. Junior Danica Martin and senior Bella Hedke closed out the set with a combo block to cheers from the excited crowd.
Concordia junior Cole Buckley said that the energy in the crowd helped spur the Bulldogs to the win.
“It was awesome. The crowd never lost spirit; the team never lost spirit,” Buckley said. “Everyone stayed in it till the end.”
Concordia’s attacking game put together a 0.279 kill percentage during the contest, with solid games from Starkey, who recorded eight kills on zero errors, and Hedke, who notched eight kills with two errors.
The Bulldogs’ defense held Briar Cliff to a 0.131 kill percentage, recording five solo blocks led by Starkey with three, and 10 assisted blocks.
Coach Ben Bolt said that every win in the Great Plains Athletic Conference is hard-fought and prepares his team for their national tournament aspirations.
“In the GPAC, anything can happen on any given night,” Bolt said. “I think this conference prepares us for national competition. Being in these types of situations will ultimately help us get to where we want to go.”
Bolt also stressed the importance of focus from the first to last set.
“We started to get a little unfocused over the match,” Bolt said. “In the end, we came out ahead, but throughout the entirety of the match we need to keep focus.”
The Bulldogs moved to 16-2 overall on the season, maintaining a spotless 7-0 GPAC record. Concordia is scheduled to play Morningside University in a Senior Day home game on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 3 p.m. in Friedrich Arena.
