SEWARD, Neb. – Seemingly right after daybreak, Concordia competed early with Wartburg College (Iowa) on a beautiful sunny Saturday (Apr. 13). The Bulldogs and Knights went at it, as two evenly matched teams came down to the wire in doubles and singles play. No. 1 Hugo Fuentes came in clutch and slammed the door shut on the visitor comeback for a 4-3 dual win.
The home team moves their overall record to 7-11 overall for the season with only two duals before the GPAC tournament. Head Coach Lisa Hart raved about her team’s play and growth throughout the year.
“Wartburg is a solid team, very well coached. Proud of how we competed today in our close sets. A tie breaker decided the doubles point and also Hugo won a breaker to clinch the match for us at No. 1. We are competing much better in the pressure points. So proud of the progress our entire team has had- excited to get back to GPAC competition next week and finish our season strong!”
Up 3-2, No. 1 Fuentes said goodnight to the hopes of Wartburg stealing a win on the road. The chances of winning looked slim after a 3-6 first set loss, but it didn’t phase the homegrown Spaniard. The sophomore roared back in the second set (6-1) with a decisive look in his eyes and finished off Cade Davis in the tiebreak.
The other two singles points were captured by No. 3 Abadia (7-5, 6-0) and No. 4 Bedrosian (7-5, 6-2). Both Bulldogs seem to mirror each other with tough extra play first set wins and followed with dominating play in the second.
In doubles, No. 2s Abadia and Bedrosian rolled into a 6-0 shutout over their opponents in orange and black. In hindsight, the No. 3s Grady Works and Mitch Krumm persevered in their moment of pressure that later became the deciding point. The duo found themselves tied (6-6) at the end of the set, but defeated (7-5) Ola Palmertz and Jeff Miller in the tiebreak.
Others competing in singles were No. 2 Rodriguez, No. 5 Krumm and No. 6 Luke Johnson.
The Knights move to 7-16 in their campaign and will return to the American Rivers Conference in NCAA Division III play. Wartburg was led by No. 2 Sean Osland, No. 5 Kyle Sehlin and No. 6 Ola Palmertz.
Concordia (6-11, 1-3 GPAC) will resume conference play versus Midland (8-5, 2-1 GPAC) this Tuesday in Seward, Neb. First serve will be hit at 4:30 p.m. CT at the Bulldog Tennis Courts.