Bulldogs close tennis edition of Concordia Invitational with two Saturday wins
ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Bulldog men’s tennis shook off a 5-4 loss to Concordia University Wisconsin on Friday and closed the Concordia Invitational with a pair of wins on Saturday as part of a three-match swing in St. Louis, Mo. CUNE started the day off with a dominant 9-0 morning win over host Concordia Seminary and followed with a 5-4 afternoon triumph over Greenville College (Ill.), which entered the day with seven wins over its previous eight matches.
The Bulldogs ran their overall record to 7-3 at the conclusion of Saturday’s action. Concordia Wisconsin captured the event title by going undefeated in St. Louis. The Bulldogs have now surpassed their win total from last season when they went 5-11 overall.
“We showed tremendous heart this weekend,” graduate assistant coach James Ingrahm said. “We battled back today. We’ve continued to show improvement from last year. We lost to Greenville here last year and this year we beat them. We’re doing much better as a team.”
Concordia’s impressive doubles play again highlighted the day. The Bulldogs went 6-0 in doubles on Saturday to improve to 20-10 on the year in such matches. Close wins at Nos. 1 and 3 were crucial to the close win over Greenville.
“In the past doubles hasn’t been as strong for this team,” Ingrahm said. “This year we’re gelling in doubles. I have to give props to our Nos. 1 and 3 teams. That’s what won it for us against Greenville.”
After going up 3-0 at the conclusion of doubles, the Bulldogs staved off Greenville by getting singles wins at the 2 and 3 spots thanks to the efforts of Morelia, Mexico, natives Javier Moreno and Patricio Esquivel. Both Moreno and Esquivel went undefeated on the day in singles while combining on two doubles wins.
In the shutout of the Seminary, the Bulldogs dropped only a single set. They won every game at No. 3 singles (Moreno – 6-0, 6-0), No. 5 singles (Mike McCartney – 6-0, 6-0) and at No. 3 doubles (Jonathan Douglas/McCartney – 8-0). The duo of Douglas and McCartney ran their team best doubles mark to 7-2.
Both the Bulldog men’s and women’s tennis teams will be in action again on Tuesday when they hit the road to take on the University of Nebraska-Kearney. Match time is set for 4 p.m.
