CUNE Volleyball Eliminated from National Tournament in Four Tough Sets
Daniel Kuefner
Sower Staff
The Concordia women’s volleyball team was defeated 3-1 with set scores of 25-18, 25-19, 25-19, and 25-22 in favor of Park University on Friday. Junior Camryn Opfer racked up 14 kills and 23 digs in the four sets.
After losing the first two sets of the contest, Concordia found themselves with a 22-16 point advantage late in the third set. Following three straight attack errors Concordia’s lead fell to only three points.
With their season on the line, Concordia came out of their timeout and scored three straight points of their own with an Opfer kill, an attack error and a failed set from Park University. Park University came out and won the fourth set, eliminating Concordia from the national tournament and ending their season.
Freshman Ashley Keck was able to collect eight of the team’s 42 kills, and had 13 digs of her own. Junior setter Bree Burtwistle finished the game with 34 assists, adding to her season total of 1,211.
The Bulldogs’ season included the highest regular season rank in school history. Concordia entered the national tournament with the second highest hitting percentage in the nation (.265) as well as the third highest number of kills per set (14.15).
Concordia finished the season with a record of 25-6 and a Great Plains Athletic Conference record of 12-4.
