CRETE - Concordia’s upset bid fell just short, as #12 Doane College held on for a 3-2 volleyball win over Concordia on Wednesday evening in Crete . Scores of the match were 25-19, 22-25, 23-25, 25-15 and 17-15. Concordia rallied in the final set and had match point at 15-14, but the Tigers rattled off three straight points to pick up the win. Doane won its 14th straight to move to 17-1 overall (2-0 GPAC) on the year. Concordia slipped to 5-10 overall (0-2 GPAC).

The Tigers held a comfortable lead for much of the first set. The Bulldogs made a late push, but it wasn’t enough as Doane secured the 25-19 win. In set two, Concordia took advantage of some Tiger miscues to jump out to a 22-16 lead. Doane cut the lead to two at 24-22, but the Bulldogs closed out the set to tie the match at 1-1.

Concordia University had two players selected to the Georgetown Rumpke Invite All-Tournament Team this past weekend in Kentucky . Amanda Abbott ( Temecula , Calif. ) and Amanda Kisker ( Lincoln , Neb. ) were recognized on the 10-person team.

Abbott finished with a team-best 37 kills on the weekend, as Concordia went 2-2 in the Rumpke Invite. She pounded a season-high 16 kills in Concordia’s 3-2 win over Montreat on the opening night of the tournament.

Kisker totaled 32 kills and had two double-doubles on the weekend. She finished with 12 kills and 24 digs in the win over Montreat and added 11 kills and 15 digs in Concordia’s win over Union College .

Concordia University went 1-1 in the opening day of the Georgetown College Rumpke Invite on Friday evening in Georgetown , Ky. The Bulldogs defeated Montreat University (NC) and lost to the hosts from Georgetown College to move to 4-8 on the year. The win over Montreat University was the 100th career win for head coach Rachel Miller.

Coach Miller’s 100th win proved to be extra special, as the Bulldogs battled for an exciting 3-2 win over Montreat. Scores of the match were 25-20, 34-32, 18-25, 9-25 and 15-13. As a team, Concordia totaled 15 and 20 kills, respectively, in the opening two sets of the match. The Bulldogs struggled in the next two sets but came through with nine kills on 17 total attempts in the fifth and final set.

Concordia University went 1-1 in the final day of the Rumpke Invitational Volleyball Tournament in Georgetown , Ky.

The Bulldogs picked up a 3-1 win over Union College ( Ky. ) and suffered a 3-0 loss to Grace College ( Ind. ). Concordia is now 5-9 on the year.

Scores of the win over Union were 25-18, 28-26, 15-25 and 25-18. Amanda Kisker ( Lincoln , Neb. ) had another double-double with 11 kills and 15 digs to lead the way. Kaylie Mellema ( Axtell , Neb. ) and Amanda Abbott ( Temecula , Calif. ) each delivered nine kills. Marlee Denton ( Fremont , Neb. ) added seven kills for a balanced Bulldog attack. Angela Bruhn ( Creston , Neb. ) and Allie Kenning ( Hebron , Neb. ) added 13 and 12 digs, respectively, to chip in for the Bulldogs defensively. Mariah Schamp ( Arvada , Colo. ) added eight assisted blocks, while Ashlea Vaudt ( Kalispell , Mont. ) had six assisted blocks. Alexa Hopping ( Sutherland , Neb. ) totaled 25 set assists in the Bulldog win.

Midland University swept past Concordia in GPAC volleyball on Wednesday evening in Seward. Scores of the match were 25-19, 26-24 and 25-16. The Warriors improved to 6-4 overall (1-0 GPAC). Concordia dropped to 3-7 (0-1 GPAC).

Halie Wewel and Keri Lunz paced the Warriors with nine kills apiece. Ashley Wheeler and Katie Dettmer added eight and seven kills, respectively, for Midland University . Megan Farley had a match-high 32 set assists, and Becca Gradaville totaled 11 digs to lead the Warriors defensively.

“I was disappointed in our execution at times but I was really proud of how we refocused and came together,” said Paul Giesselmann, head volleyball coach of the Warriors. “Any road conference win is a good win.”

Bulldogs fall to Viterbo, defeat College of St. Mary at Bruin Classic

Concordia University went 1-1 in the final day of the Bruin Labor Day Classic Volleyball Tournament on Saturday in Bellevue . The Bulldogs suffered a 3-0 loss to Viterbo before picking up a 3-1 win over College of St. Mary . Concordia is now 3-6 on the year.

Amy Braaksma had a match-high 12 kills, and Stacie Hoffman handed out 27 set assists to lead Viterbo to an easy 3-0 win to start the day. Scores of the match were 25-15, 25-14 and 25-21. Hannah Ripp and Katie Flock added nine and eight kills, respectively, while Jordan Blaken totaled a match-high 23 digs in the Viterbo win.

Concordia University dropped two matches at the Bruin Labor Day Classic Volleyball Tournament on Friday in Bellevue . The Bulldogs suffered losses to Baker University and Grand View to drop to 2-5 on the year.

Baker cruised to a 3-0 win in the opening match of the day. Scores were 25-19, 25-17 and 25-13. Savannah Smith and Jasmyn Turner each delivered eight kills to lead the way for Baker. Taryn Brees added seven kills. Jana Boss finished with a match-high 29 set assists, and Brooke Allen led the way defensively with 13 digs.

Amanda Abbott ( Temecula , Calif. ) finished with a team-best six kills for Concordia in the loss. Marlee Denton ( Fremont , Neb. ) added five kills, while Kayla James (Gibbon, Neb. ) handed out 13 set assists, and Carli Smith (Temecula, Calif. ) totaled a match-high 19 digs for the Bulldogs.
Devon Jensen pounded a match-high 17 kills to lead Grand View to the 3-0 win on Friday evening. Scores of the match were 25-18, 25-18 and 25-10. Aly Smith added seven kills, while Jessica Garland and Paige Harris each had 16 set assists for Grand View, who finished with a .341 attack percentage in the win.

Concordia University rallied for a 3-2 volleyball win over Peru State on Tuesday evening. The Bulldogs struggled in sets one and three but managed to escape with the win to improve to 2-3 on the year. Scores of the match were 15-25, 25-19, 12-25, 25-21 and 15-12.

The Bulldogs used a balanced offensive attack to pick up the victory. Marlee Denton ( Fremont , Neb. ), Angela Bruhn ( Creston , Neb. ) and Ashlea Vaudt ( Kalispell , Mont. ) all had nine kills to lead the way. Mariah Schamp ( Arvada , Colo. ) added eight kills and four blocks, while Amanda Abbott ( Temecula , Calif. ) and Amanda Kisker ( Lincoln , Neb. ) added four kills apiece.

Concordia University split two matches in the final day of the Red Raider Classic Volleyball Tournament on Saturday in Iowa .

The Bulldogs (1-3) held on for a 3-2 win over Valley City State University in the first match of the day. Olivet Nazarene swept past Concordia by the score of 3-0 in Concordia’s fourth and final match of the tournament.

Concordia won the first two sets against Valley City State but had to earn a 15-13 win in set five to pick up the victory. Scores of the match were 25-20, 25-23, 24-26, 20-25 and 15-13. A total of three players reached double figures in kills to lead a balanced Concordia offensive attack. Amanda Kisker ( Lincoln , Neb. ) led the way with 11 kills, while Marlee Denton ( Fremont , Neb. ) and Mariah Schamp ( Arvada , Colo. ) chipped in with 10 kills apiece. Kayla James (Gibbon, Neb. ) handed out 24 set assists, and Alexa Hopping ( Sutherland , Neb. ) added 16 set assists in the match. Carli Smith ( Temecula , Calif. ) led the way defensively for Concordia with 31 digs.

The Concordia University volleyball team started its season 0-2 at the Red Raider Classic on Friday night.

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