LINDSBORG, Kan. – The hot streak continues for Nick Velders and the Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Tennis team. One day after toppling Friends University on the road, the Bulldogs crashed Lindsborg, Kan., and swept their way past Bethany College, 7-0. Seven Concordia players contributed in singles and/or doubles in Saturday (March 8)’s trouncing of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference foe.
Head Coach Lisa Hart’s squad will take a four-match winning streak into the final contest of the weekend road trip. The Bulldogs have improved to 6-4 overall.
A transfer from Prairie State College, Velders pushed his singles record to a perfect 10-0 while taking care of his counterpart from Bethany, 6-2, 6-3, at the No. 2 position. Nine of Velders’ 10 wins have come at No. 2. Meanwhile, senior Grady Works clinched the team win on Saturday when he won at No. 6, 6-3, 6-3. Everyone else was also a winner, but several matches were highly contested. Tiebreakers were necessary for Hugo Fuentes at No. 1, Ben Chisholm at No. 3 and Joseph Melzer at No. 5. Things were a bit smoother at No. 4 as Santiago Abadia triumphed, 6-4, 6-0.
In doubles, Concordia started strong while winning convincingly at all three spots. The victorious combinations were Fuentes and Velders at No. 1 (6-0), Works and Manuel Rodriguez at No. 2 (6-3) and Abadia and Chisholm at No. 3 (6-1). Abadia and Chisholm are now 7-1 as a doubles pair while Fuentes and Velders are 6-3 when teaming up.
A day earlier, Bethany (1-2) fell by a 4-3 score to John Brown University (Ark.). The Bulldogs have won each of the past five series meetings over the Swedes.
The Kansas weekend tour will make a stop in Great Bend on Sunday. The Bulldogs are set to take on Barton Community College at 12 p.m. CT in a men’s and women’s doubleheader. The Cougars compete as a member of the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference.