The Concordia Volleyball team has reached at least the TAPPS Final Four for 8 consecutive seasons, from 2014-2021. To put that in perspective, the last time that the Crusaders were NOT in the Final Four, this year’s seniors were in 9 or 10 years old and in 4th grade. Middle school volleyball hadn’t even begun for them yet as that typically starts in 5th and 6th grade!
While the Crusaders have been mainstays in the TAPPS Final Four, during the last seven years, they are only 2-5 in the Final Four matchup games. The team’s most recent State Title came home to Tomball in 2016 and a State Runner-Up Finish was earned in 2018.
Over these years, the Concordia volleyball team has been one of the most consistent and dominant private school teams in Texas. Since 2013, the Crusader Volleyball team boasts a record of 249-73 Overall (77% win percentage) and even more impressively, 75-8 in District play (90% win percentage).
In the 2021 campaign, Concordia enters the Final Four having played many difficult public and private school teams in Texas. The team’s record this year is 36-9 Overall and 10-2 District, with both district losses coming at the hands of District Champs - St. Agnes Academy, the foe for the Crusaders in the Final Four.
The Crusaders lost in 5 sets at St. Agnes in the season’s first match up and lost in straight sets at Concordia in the second. One of the most difficult things to do is to beat an opponent x3 times in one season. Over the last four years, St. Agnes has had Concordia’s number with the Crusaders going 2-6 with one of the victories coming in the 2018 State Final Four.
Concordia has a lot left in the tank and Head Coach Branden Smeltzer shared, “We can play with anyone in Texas. We have the players, hitters, blockers, and servers. We just need to be mentally tough throughout the entire game and not think. It’s going to be fun if we play the way we have been playing in practice this week.”
The team is looking forward to the chance to play St. Agnes again, on a neutral floor. Both teams know each other’s strengths and the game will come down to execution and error mitigation. Concordia is bringing a bus full of fans to help cheer on the team for their 10 am Final Four game in Waco on Friday, Nov. 19th at University High School.
Volleyball Home Page: www.sadernationtx.com/volleyball
Learn More About Concordia: www.clhs-tx.org/admissions