No. 17 Bulldogs Stun No. 2 Warriors
by Garrett Suchanek
Wednesday night the No. 17 Concordia volleyball team stunned the No. 2 Midland Warriors in Fremont in five sets 25-23, 19-25, 14-25, 25-23 and 15-11.
The win improved the Bulldogs to 20-5 overall and 8-2 in GPAC.
Concordia handed the Warriors their first loss of the year with determined play late in the match.
The Bulldogs won a seesaw battle in the first set.
In the second set, the Warrior offense woke up and went on a run. Midland jumped out to a 10-6 lead and extended the lead to 17-12 before closing out the set to tie the match at 1-1.
Midland didn’t stop in the second set as the Warriors grabbed a 5-1 lead in the third set. The Warriors strolled to a 25-14 third set win behind a .268 hitting percentage.
However, in the fourth set, the Bulldogs dug their heels in and responded with a quick 11-4 start of their own.
Midland fought back and went on a 14-5 run to claim an 18-16 lead. Then, the Bulldogs went on a 5-0 run to put themselves in prime position to close out the set.
Concordia clinched the fourth set with a huge block to send the match to a decisive fifth set.
In the fifth set, both teams were tied at 6-6 before the match took a swing in Concordia’s favor.
The Bulldogs broke the set open with a 6-2 run to gain a 12-8 advantage.
After Midland cut into the lead and made it 13-11, the Bulldogs called a timeout.
Following the timeout, Concordia collected a pair of points and claimed the set, match and upset of No. 2 Midland.
This is the first time Concordia defeated Midland since Oct. 30, 2009, when the Bulldogs won in three sets at Walz Arena.
The Bulldogs’ next game will be at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 21 when Concordia hosts College of Saint Mary (10-12 overall, 1-9 in GPAC) on Pink Out Night.