SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. – Fifth seeded Concordia Men’s Tennis took a trip to the First Serve Tennis Center and took on fourth seeded Doane on Thursday morning (Apr. 26). The Tigers squeezed out a doubles point win and then won three straight singles for a 0-4 shutout in the GPAC tournament quarterfinals. With the loss, the Bulldogs finished their season 8-13 overall.
First year Head Coach Lisa Hart commented on the constant improvement of her players and the buy-in from everyone.
“This season has been one of progress. Our players bought in and improved throughout the season. Our team is very passionate, exciting to watch, and extremely resilient. Adding Grady (Works) in January was a game changer for our program. He not only changed the program on the court with his work ethic but also off the court with his steady and positive personality. We will miss Luke Johnson, our lone senior, and we thank him for all of his positive contributions to our program. Excited for everyone else to return next season and get back to work!”
After No. 1s fell quickly, No. 3s Grady Works and Mitch Krumm outlasted Elliot Dassel and Andre Hartman (7-5) to tie up doubles. No. 2s Hugo Fuentes and Santi Abadia found themselves deadlocked at 6-6, going into a tiebreaker falling 5-7.
No. 3 Abadia fell in the first two sets (1-6, 1-6) to Federico Infante and Manuel Rodriguez followed (2-6, 2-6) against Jose Purizaca. Down 0-3, Luke Johnson tried to hold off Dassel but was unable to force a third set in the 2-6, 2-6 final.
Three Bulldogs remained unfinished but were battling to make the match closer than the shutout final score. No. 1 Fuentes (2-6, 6-2, 2-0) and No. 4 Michael Bedrosian (6-4, 3-6, 1-0) were up in their third sets and No. 5 Grady Works was on the verge of the first win (6-4, 5-0), only needing one more game to clinch his point.
Doane will move on to the conference semifinals and face first seeded Morningside.
Concordia finalizes its 2023-24 campaign with an 8-13 record and 2-4 GPAC showing. The Bulldogs will look to improve under Hart as she enters her second year as the head coach of Concordia University Tennis. The team loses one senior next year, Luke Johnson.