STERLING, Kan. – There were matches that forced the Concordia University Men’s Tennis team to dig a little deeper, but it got the job down throughout the lineup on Saturday (March 4) afternoon in Sterling, Kan. The Bulldogs swept through doubles and singles on their way to a 7-0 win over Sterling College. Concordia has now defeated a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference opponent twice this spring.
Head Coach Cam Long’s squad bumped its overall record to 3-5. The Bulldogs are 2-3 during the spring portion of the campaign.
Said Long, “It was a great day of tennis for our guys. Sterling is a good team and the team score does not show how tough this match was. I’m proud of how tough we stayed mentally in the tight moments, which helped everything go our way.”
There were five Concordia players who emerged victorious in both singles and doubles. Starting with doubles, the winning pairs for the Bulldogs were Juan Rabellino and Thomas Van Haaren at No. 1, Hugo Fuentes and Shawn Springer at No. 2 and Santiago Abadia and Eduardo Rojas at No. 3. The No. 1 matchup was a tight battle that finished in a score of 7-6 (7-5). Concordia won the final two spots in the lineup by respective scores of 6-3 and 6-2.
In singles, the Nos. 2 and 3 clashes could have easily gone the other way, but Fuentes and Springer were just a little bit better than their counterparts while pulling out victories. Additional singles wins were claimed by Rojas at No. 1, Abadia at No. 2, Rabellino at No. 5 and Manuel Rodriguez at No. 6. Abadia had the most lopsided match in taking it by a score of 6-0, 6-2.
Sterling’s record slipped to 2-2. Three days earlier, the Warriors traveled to Hastings, Neb., and knocked off the Broncos, 6-1. Concordia has beaten Sterling by 7-0 final scores in back-to-back years.
The Bulldogs will have most of the spring break week off before returning to action next Saturday (March 11) for a match with another two more KCAC foes in Tabor College and Kansas Wesleyan University and Tabor. First serve at Tabor is slated for 11 a.m. CT from Lindsborg, Kan., while the clash with Kansas Wesleyan is set for a 2:30 p.m. start in Salina, Kan.