FREMONT, Neb. – The Bulldogs started the match with a 2-0 lead before Iowa Central Community College rattled off four straight in the 4-2 loss on Friday (Feb. 7) afternoon. The two teams clashed inside the Fremont Family YMCA and Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Tennis won their first doubles point of the spring season. Newcomer Nick Velders went unbeaten in singles and doubles with his partner Hugo Fuentes.
Head Coach Lisa Hart’s squad drops to 1-2 overall and thinks the team will improvement as the spring goes along.
“Very proud of our guys. We had tremendous energy and fight in doubles - we lost some of our momentum in the singles, but we will continue to work on this and be back stronger!”
After a 0-7 loss to the Tritons last season, the Bulldogs came out swinging and sliced the competition in doubles. No. 1s Velders and Fuentes made quick work of Djamel Dine and Caleb Aryettey (6-2) continuing their chemistry from the Fall. No. 3s Santiago Abadia and Ben Chisholm completed the second doubles contest (6-3) to clinch the team point.
In singles, No. 2 Velders didn’t give up a game to Aryettey blanking the ICCC player 6-0, 6-0. The transfer from Prairie State College has an unbeaten record in individual play (3-0).
After taking the early lead (2-0), Iowa Central responded with wins at No. 4, 1 and 3 to take a 3-2 lead. With the match hanging in the balance, No. 5 Abadia lost the first set (2-6) but battled back in the second to tie (5-5) late. Dine and Abadia split the next two (6-6) and have to battle it out in a tiebreak. Dine would take the final to finish the match.
Others competing in singles for the Bulldogs were, No. 1 Fuentes, No. 3 Manuel Rodriguez, and No. 4 Chisholm. No. 6 Grady Works was unfinished in his match versus Mahefa Rakotomalala.
Concordia (1-2) is set to face Mount Marty (1-1) in a non-conference matchup on Thursday (Feb. 13). The Lancers have won the last three games as the Bulldogs will look to break up the streak in South Dakota.