Concordia tennis sweeps Grand View

By Taylor Mueller, Sports Information Assistant

SEWARD, Neb. – For the first time all season, the Concordia men’s and women’s tennis teams competed on the outdoor courts, as the beautiful weather yet windy conditions provided a bitter-sweet environment for the Bulldogs. The faster courts also provided a new challenge, but regardless the conditions, Concordia made two solid statements between the two squads, as both teams won in dominating fashion over the visiting Vikings of Grand View University.

“Tonight was a good night for both of them,” head coach Same Nelson said. “I saw a lot of positives. The guys were able to get a victory and looked pretty strong and so did the girls. The wind was something that you’ve got to factor in and I thought our teams did really well with making the adjustments for that.”

The women cleaned house en route to a 9-0 team victory.Leading the charge was senior Lindsea Vaudt, who after a rocky start, defeated Angela Nims 6-4, 6-0.

“I started a little slow,” Vaudt said. “I had to get used to the wind a little more. It picked up after the doubles a little bit. I got my short shots in and they were pretty good.”

Vaudt later teamed up with junior Katelyn Koll to win a highly competitive doubles match 8-6.

“We started really strong, and then we just dropped our level a little bit,” Vaudt said. “It ended up being 4-5 and then we just picked it back up and were really encouraging each other and we won 8-5. It was good. We had each other and coach gave us some words and it helps just to have a good communication going.”

The men took care of business as they handled Grand View in a 7-2 overall team victory.

Junior Mike McCartney went undefeated for the night as he topped Ryan Gilbert in his pro-set singles match, 8-4.

“The guy was pretty solid,” McCartney said. “I was able to take advantage of his backhand a little bit and the wind behind me especially. I was able to get a couple breaks on that side. I was able to execute pretty well today and I hit my strokes pretty well.  It was a pretty good day.”

McCartney went to work with junior Joel Kaldahl in their doubles match, besting their competition with a final score of 8-2.

“Today we were able to take advantage of their net play,” McCartney said. “They didn’t really have a strong net game. We were able to take advantage of that and get some free points that way. We switched some things up return wise. We kind of threw some new things in there and it worked out today. We’ll see how it works the rest of the season.”

Having played all his previous matches inside Walz Fieldhouse, McCartney explained the difference in the style of courts and how they affect the way the game is played.

“It’s a little different,” McCartney said. “Inside you have a little more time to set up your shot and out here at the higher level, you have to learn to hit the ball on the run and deal with bad situations a little better.”

Looking ahead, Nelson noted that Doane would provide challenging competition.

“Next week we play a big match against Doane,” Nelson said. “Wednesday and Thursday we’ll have some time to work on some things and we’ll go from there. It was good to get three matches in three days in a row.”

McCartney shared similar insight, and is hopeful that the team can make a solid run as the season progresses.

“We played Doane earlier this season,” McCartney said. “I felt we were pretty competitive. With the Midland win I think we should be up there with the top of the pack. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season and seeing what we can do.”

The Bulldogs will look to continue their hot play when they host Doane on Wednesday, April 10 and Thursday, April 11.