Concordia volleyball sweeps Hastings Broncos in Saturday match

Junior outside hitter Kya Scott (13) leaps up to spike the ball onto the Broncos’ side of the court.

Photo credit: Josiah Seabaugh

By Isaac Dawson

No. 4 Concordia volleyball’s close sweep of the Hastings College Broncos this Saturday has everyone looking forward to the Homecoming game against the top ranked Northwestern College next Saturday, after the Doane University match on Wednesday.

Concordia moved up to the second rank in the Great Plains Athletic Conference behind Northwestern following their victory against Hastings, promising an intense Saturday matchup between two great teams to keep everyone watching on the edge of their seats.

“We got to serve and pass well, we got to block well, we need to make great choices offensively,” said Boldt. “We need to play a full game and be ready to go next Saturday.”

Set one went by very smoothly for the Bulldogs ending 25-13, with Hastings struggling to put up kills and giving up points early to attack errors. Junior Ashley Keck and sophomore Ella Waters dominated the first set in kills at five and three respectively, with help from the middle by junior Savannah Shelbourne.

The second set was scarier for Concordia near the end, the Mustangs trailing close behind and nearly bringing around a comeback to lose it at 26-24 for the Bulldogs. The tight race featured several long volleys, Hastings narrowly taking the first and Concordia decisively taking the second to win the set with a clean kill from Waters.

Junior Addie Kirkegaard took the spotlight in this set, taking five kills. Keck matched her with five of her own, bringing down spikes like a sledgehammer on Hastings’ defense, bringing her to 10 kills by the end of the second.

The last set was even closer, the Broncos pulling ahead and staying there. It was a roller coaster of a set for Concordia, whose defense was struggling with net violations. With the scoreboard at 19-22 the Bulldogs’ grit finally kicked in for a point streak to win it by the two-point rule again to take the game.

Freshman defensive specialist Shandy Fa’ali’i has played almost every set this season, primarily serving as a pinch server and shows potential as a key backline player in the future. She and the rest of the team have been working with that “grit” mindset Coach Boldt has aimed to foster in the team. The final two sets against Hastings proved the value of never quitting.

“I think our energy was really good as a team and I think we worked really well together, especially when we were down,” said Fa’ali’i. “We had a good mentality of pushing forward and just getting to that next point.”

Ashley Keck took the most kills with 17 as well as most digs with 21. Waters had the second most kills at 10. Senior Rebecca Gebhardt was second in digs with 15. Junior Savannah Shelbourne had the most assists at 24.

Keck has been a mainstay for the Concordia volleyball team over the past few years with 273 kills her freshman year and a team leading 327 last year. She is on track to do the same in 2024, boasting 136 after 12 games and a month of regular season to go. Waters is close behind her with 130 kills of her own demonstrating the vitality of the team and the roundedness of the offense.

“Ashley Keck did great for sure, she had a big day in terms of kills,” said Boldt, “That was a great performance out of her. I was really proud of Becca Gebhardt, she was digging the ball really well tonight. We need to continue to be balanced and rely on everyone out there!”

Since August, before the GPAC conference started, Concordia hasn’t lost more than one set to an opponent and remains near the top with a single loss to No. 8 Bellevue College.

Concordia now has a season record of 11-1, and a GPAC record of 4-0. Their next game is sure to be a heated match up against the school rival Doane University on Wednesday, Sept. 25 in Crete at 7:30 p.m.

The following game on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 4 p.m. in Friedrich is the Homecoming weekend game against Northwestern. The game is a highly anticipated rematch against the team who broke the Bulldogs’ winning streak in 2023 and robbed them of a conference championship.

Contributed to by Maddy Peters, Sports Editor