CUNE volleyball team prevails against College of Saint Mary
Photo Description: Bree Burtwistle sets the ball
Photo Credit: Josiah Seabaugh (Photo from previous game)
Madeline Peters
Sower Staff
The Concordia volleyball team doused the College of Saint Mary Flames’ undefeated conference record Saturday afternoon winning 3-1 against the ninth nationally ranked team in Omaha.
Saint Mary was the first team this season to burn Concordia in the first set and took it 27-25. However, Concordia won the next three 25-20, 25-16 and 25-20. The Bulldogs end the week with 2022 national champions University of Jamestown as the only yet undefeated teams in the Great Plains Athletic Conference.
The first set was very close between the two teams with neither side able to achieve more than a three point lead. The set had to go to extra points so the Flames could squeeze in a win by two. The Bulldogs came into the second set with a bang and went on a 12-1 run and forced the Flames to burn their two timeouts for the set. Saint Mary then started to rack up points alongside Concordia and eventually took their own 11-2 run to put the score within five points at 20-15. The Bulldogs managed to hold their lead and finish the set on top.
The third and fourth sets went much smoother for Concordia with early leads that the team refused to let go of. The fourth set saw a small 5-0 run from the Flames that took the lead from them, but the Bulldogs returned and extinguished Saint Mary’s hopes for a fifth set.
Sophomore Ashley Keck led the team in kills with 16 with senior Camryn Opfer and junior Carly Rodaway close behind with 15 and 14 kills respectively. Senior Bree Burtwistle once again led the team in assists with an even 50 and junior Rebecca Gebhardt led the team in digs with 23. Burtwistle also had 20 digs for the game.
The Bulldogs are now 11-0 overall and 4-0 in the GPAC. They are also one of three undefeated teams in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics alongside Indiana Wesleyan University and Columbia International University (S.C.). Concordia volleyball returns home to join the football team for homecoming week with a game against Mount Marty University on Sept. 20 at 7:30 p.m. and Sept. 23 at 4 p.m. against Briar Cliff University.
