Bulldogs wipe out Midland in GPAC opener
FREMONT, Neb. – Head coach Sam Nelson’s men’s and women’s tennis squads both started GPAC action in style with wins over Midland on Thursday night in Fremont, Neb. The Bulldogs put behind a rough outing at the University of Nebraska-Kearney on Wednesday as the women defeated Midland 9-0 and the men recorded a 6-3 victory.
The Concordia women boosted their record to 5-2 (1-0 GPAC), while the men improved to 3-4 (1-0 GPAC) on the season.
“The wins Thursday showed the resilience of the men’s and women’s teams,” assistant coach James Ingrahm said. “They were able to bounce back quickly after a hard loss to UNK and played great tennis to beat Midland.”
On the women’s side, the Bulldogs dominated the Warriors in every match. Concordia set the tone by cruising through doubles to take a 3-0 lead. The No. 1 doubles pair of junior Katelyn Koll, named the GPAC Player of the Week on Wednesday, and senior Lindsea Vaudt won most decisively in recording an 8-1 win.
In singles, Concordia found the most resistance at the No. 1 position where Koll defeated Jordane Warkentin 6-3, 6-1. At Nos. 4, 5 and 6, Grace Hollenbeck, Elyse Kohl and Mikaela Barz each breezed to 6-0, 6-0 victories.
Meanwhile, Chelsea Haack and Vaudt won their singles matches by scores of 6-1, 6-0 to help keep Midland (0-4) winless on the season.
The Bulldog men faced a tougher battle as Midland (1-5, 0-2 GPAC) came away with victories at No. 2 doubles and Nos. 1 and 5 singles. However, Concordia took control of the match as the combo of junior Nathan Wingfield and senior Cole Egger picked up an 8-2 triumph over counterparts Logan Meisinger and Stuart Booth of Midland. The duo of sophomore Jonathan Douglas and junior Joe Vanderveld notched an 8-4 win to put Concordia in front 2-1 after doubles.
In singles action, the Bulldogs picked up wins from Egger (No. 2), Mike McCartney (No. 3), Douglas (No. 4) and Vanderveld (No. 6). Douglas, now 5-2 this season in singles, played at the No. 4 position for the first time this season after performing at No. 5 in the first six matches of 2013. Nelson says Douglas has responded well to this change.
Ingrahm came away particularly impressed with Egger, who fought back from 3-0 deficits in both sets to claim victory over Midland’s James Enzler at No. 2 singles.
“This is a huge improvement because in the past when he was down early, he’d be really hard on himself,” Ingrahm said. “But in this match he showed great mental toughness and a warrior spirit to fight back and win in a manner I haven’t seen him do before.”
Both Concordia teams will play for the third day in a row as Grand View University (Iowa) visits Seward for a men’s and women’s doubleheader. Both matches will take place on the outside tennis courts on campus.