Courtesy of Midland Athletics
FREMONT, Neb. – Entering the final night of the regular season, there was a lot riding on the line for No. 18-ranked Midland University and No. 4-ranked Concordia University on Tuesday night. The Warriors, who entered tied for fourth in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC), were looking to hold onto the final host seed in the upcoming tournament. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs were looking for at least a share of their first GPAC title in over two decades. While Midland battled back-and-forth with the one-time No. 1-ranked team, it was Concordia coming away with the Halloween treat, winning in four sets (25-17, 16-25, 25-23, 27-25).
Concordia started out on a roll as it took the first seven points of the opening set on the way to a 15-3 advantage. Midland started to chip away after using both of its timeouts to make a few adjustments. The Warriors used a 6-3 run to cut the deficit to single digits, 18-9, but the hole was too much to overcome as the Bulldogs took the set, 25-17.
After trading points early in the second, Midland found a rotation matchup to its liking. An 11-2 run put the Warriors up 14-5, extinguishing both of the Bulldogs timeouts during the run. Following a kill by Lauren Williams to go up 19-9, things shifted to the other side of the net. A quick 5-0 run cut the deficit in half for Concordia, but they were unable to stop the inevitable as Midland took the second set, 25-16, capped off by an ace serve from Kailyn Scott.
In the third, the squads went toe to toe in the early parts with Midland owning a 6-4 lead through the first 10 points. A five-point rally turned into a 7-1 run, leading to the final timeout from the Bulldogs. The conversation in the huddle settled Concordia down as it started to climb back into the contest.
Tied 17-17, the battle started to intensify. Five more ties ensued, the final coming a 2-23. An error by the Warriors’ attack put the Bulldogs on set point, forcing Midland to utilize its final stoppage. Concordia closed out the set with a kill, winning 25-23.
Following a pair of miscues by the Warriors to start the fourth, they regrouped to take a 3-2 lead. They were able to keep the Bulldogs’ offense caged as they built a 20-15 lead. After a timeout by the CU bench, they went on a four-point rally which prompted a Midland timeout.
It was a seesaw battle after that. With the Bulldogs on match point, 24-23, the Warriors used their final timeout. Back-to-back points put them on set point, 25-24, as they looked to send the match to the deciding fifth set. That would not come to fruition as Concordia scored three in a row to close out the set, 27-25, and the match 3-1.
“Really proud of our team tonight, showing their resiliency against a final four caliber team,” commented head coach Paul Giesselmann. “We’re not about moral victories here, but I told the players before the match, and after the match, that this was a measuring stick. Coming in with a five-match winning streak, I wanted to see where we were against this level of a team. It came down to one or two plays in set three and one or two plays in set four. We’ve gotten a lot better over the past few weeks and tonight shows how far we’ve come from the first time we played Concordia.”
Jacki Apel had her best game as a Warrior to date with 22 kills while hitting .486 on the attack, both new season highs. Joining her in double-digit kills was Lauren Williams with 10 followed by 7 kills from Abbey Ringler and 6 from Cortlyn Schaefer. As a team, the Warriors hit .253 with 53 kills and just 15 errors. Coordinating the attack were Brena Mackling and Brielle Power. Mackling had 26 assists while Power added 21.
Defensively, Delanie Vallinch led the way with 16 digs from her libero position. Mackling had 13 digs to complete her third double-double of the year. At the net, Midland had 16 total blocks. Ringler had eight to lead Midland while Lauryn Samuelson had seven and Apel had six.
“Even though tonight was a loss, we’re going to take a lot of positives out of this,” added Coach Giesselmann. “We’re in the time of the year, November and December when Midland plays its best volleyball. Saturday will be a great opportunity for our team. We’ll get another chance to help our resume for nationals with our conference tournament. For us to get the chance to start that journey on our home floor is great.”
Midland (14-10, 10-6 GPAC) has earned the 4th seed in the conference tournament which gets underway on Saturday. They’ll host the 5th-seeded College of Saint Mary at 7:00 p.m. on November 4 in Fremont.
