LINCOLN, Neb. – The Bulldogs competed in the GPAC fall individual tournament on Friday and Saturday (Sept. 15&16). The team took hard courts at Woods Tennis Center in Lincoln, Neb. playing against common GPAC individuals for the first time in the 2023-24 season. In the doubles B draw, Manuel Rodriguez Berdud and Michael Bedrosian went 3-1, losing in the finals 6-4.
This tournament was the second competition under head coach Lisa Hart, after competing in the Bethany College Invitational on Sept. 8 and 9. Coach Hart talked about how the team played over the weekend.
“Our kids fought hard, and I was proud of their effort. Our level of play took a great step in the right direction from the last tournament to the GPAC individual tournament. I thought a few individuals stood out for us and a lot of our team played their best so far this season.”
Rodriguez Berdud and Bedrosian took care of Joao Costa and Rodrigo Iraheta (6-4) in the quarterfinals, while defeating Chase Carter and Dalton Polesky (6-1), in their most decisive win of the tournament. The undefeated tournament run stopped as they faced Christian Kelly and Mikhill Raja, falling 6-4.
Santiago Abadia won his first match (8-2) over Jaime De Deigo Llano, then fell to the No. 1 seed (Gustav Sjoberg) and an eventual bracket winner. Michael Bedrosian, picked as the No. 2 seed in his draw, lost in the round of 16, but won over Noah Roisum (8-2) in the consolation bracket to make it to the semifinals.
Mitch Krumm had an 8-6 victory over Cayden Brander in the round of 16, and conceded in the quarterfinals to Carter. Ethan Phinney, on the other side of the draw, took a win in the round of 16 over Zach Gonsor (8-4), then took Josh Grosvendor into an extra games match, eventually falling 9-7.
Concordia will split up on their next travel date to the NAIA Central-West ITA Regional Championship and Kansas Wesleyan Invite next week (Sept. 24-26). Both take place in Salina, Kan., and are set to start at 9 a.m. CT each day.