No. 3 Concordia takes care of Hastings in 3-0 sweep
Concordia volleyball celebrates a win over Morningside (photo from previous game).
Photo: Ben Frerking
By Christian Myers
No. 2 Concordia volleyball took their game to Hastings, Nebraska, on Wednesday and cleaned house with an easy sweep in three sets against the Broncos. With a well-rounded offensive performance, the Bulldogs won by scores of 25-18, 25-16, and 25-22.
Earlier in the season, Hastings put up a real fight against Concordia and took the matchup all the way to a fifth set. This time around, the Bulldogs could not have been more dominant. The team notched 42 total kills, 39 assists, and only eight attack errors. They outclassed Hastings’ .110 hitting percentage with a superb .315 hitting percentage of their own.
Junior Shandy Fa’ali’i led the offensive surge with 13 kills, while senior Bella Hedke denied Hastings at the net with a team-leading 5 blocks. Sophomore Makenna Starkey also contributed to the cause with seven kills on just 14 attack attempts, an efficient 50%.
Sets one and two wound up to be eerily similar to each other. Concordia had no issue establishing decent-sized leads early and sustaining them all the way to their 25th point. Only once during the day did the Bulldogs find themselves in a truly competitive environment. Set three was an early battle back and forth before the Bulldogs pulled away, gaining a 21-15 lead. Though even with the six-point advantage, Hastings fought back and ended the set within three points of Concordia at 25-22.
Overall, the Bulldogs outscored the Broncos 75-56 on the day and earned their 22nd win of the season. Fa’ali’i’s 313 total kills are good for fourth overall in the Great Plains Athletic Conference, and Concordia’s 13.17 kills per set sits at a respectable third.
Only two matches remain in the 2026 regular season, and Concordia sits just one match behind Northwestern for first in the GPAC. At a 13-1 conference record and 22-3 overall, the Bulldogs will match up against Dordt University on Saturday, Oct. 31, in pursuit of a fifth straight win and a chance to stay in the fight for the GPAC regular season title.
