LINDSBORG / SALINA, Kan. – The road trip into Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference territory was a fruitful one for the Concordia University Men’s Tennis team. In a pair of Sunday (March 12) afternoon matches, the Bulldogs emerged with wins by scores of 7-0 at Bethany College of Lindsborg, Kan., and 4-3 at Kansas Wesleyan University of Salina, Kan. For the day, Concordia cleaned up in singles play by going a combined 10-2 versus the Swedes and Coyotes.
Head Coach Cam Long’s squad has evened up its overall record at 5-5 on the season. The Bulldogs are 3-0 during the month of March.
“It was a great day of tennis for the guys,” Long said. “We looked great from the start against Bethany and pulled out a couple close matches. We showed a lot of toughness to come back against a good KWU team after dropping the doubles point. Our confidence should be high right now.”
The 7-0 decision over Bethany duplicated the score from the matchup held a year ago. Concordia got the upper hand in doubles while triumphing at the No. 2 (Hugo Fuentes and Shawn Springer) and No. 3 (Santiago Abadia and Eduardo Rojas) positions. The Bulldogs took both of those matches by scores of 6-2. The Swedes (1-3) managed to get the win at No. 1, 6-4.
Then in singles, Concordia earned a clean sweep while taking tight decisions with Rojas at No. 1 and Juan Rabellino at No. 4. Other victors were Fuentes at No. 2, Springer at No. 3, Manuel Rodriguez at No. 5 and Thomas Van Haaren at No. 6. A native of Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, Rodriguez has run his season singles record to 7-2 while getting consistent results at the bottom of the lineup.
The second match of the day provided more drama as the Bulldogs had to rally back from a deficit after doubles. Kansas Wesleyan (3-3) won close matches at the Nos. 1 and 2 doubles spots to steal the team point. Concordia got a 6-0 doubles win from Abadia and Rojas at No. 6. The Bulldogs fought back in singles with wins from Fuentes at No. 2, Abadia at No. 4, Rabellino at No. 5 and Rodriguez at No. 6. All six singles contests were decided in two sets.
Concordia managed to defeat a Coyote squad that picked up a 5-2 win over Doane on Saturday. The Tigers were rated above the Bulldogs in the official GPAC poll released on NAIA.org on March 6. Concordia is currently listed as the GPAC’s No. 3 rated squad.
Nonconference play will continue next Saturday (March 18) with a trip to Baldwin City, Kan., home to Baker University. First serve is set for 1 p.m. CT. The two programs last met in 2021 with the result being a 4-0 win for the Wildcats.