Men’s tennis shuts out Doane; women fall 6-3

SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia University men’s team looked sharp in rolling up a 9-0 victory over Doane College inside the Walz Fieldhouse on Wednesday evening. In the women’s match that proceeded, Doane grabbed a 6-3 victory.

The Concordia men raised their record to 3-1 while the women slipped to 0-2. Both matches were counted as non-conference competitions.

In the men’s tussle, the Bulldogs did not lose a single set on the way to trouncing the Tigers. Everything flowed well from the top down with Nathan Wingfield getting on the board with his first singles win of the season. The senior No. 1 defeated Chance Hohensee, 6-3, 6-3.

Concordia set the tone with doubles wins of 8-6 at No. 1, 8-2 at No. 2 and 8-4 at No. 3.

“In doubles I really liked how everyone was more relaxed and patient in the crosscourt rallies and how they waited for the correct ball to attack,” said graduate assistant coach James Ingrahm.

The Bulldogs were every bit as dominant in singles. Senior Joel Kaldahl dropped just a single game in his 6-1, 6-0 victory over Cory Queen. Freshman Patricio Esquivel enjoyed similar success in cruising to a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Nick Hamilton.

“In singles I saw great tennis,” Ingrahm said. “100 mile-per-hour forehands do not impress me, intelligently setting up the point with a specific goal in mind impresses me. There was some really smart tennis played by all six guys.”

Esquivel and senior Mike McCartney are both 3-1 in singles play this season after wins on Wednesday. The No. 2 doubles combo of Esquivel and Javier Moreno also moved to 3-1.

On the women’s side, Concordia hung in by getting the usual solid efforts at the top of the lineup. At No. 1, senior Katelyn Koll battled Torey Kogel through three sets and came out on top, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 10-3. It was Koll’s first win of the season. Dominant against GPAC opponents, Koll is 21-13 overall since beginning her sophomore campaign.

Koll and junior Elyse Kohl were the only Bulldogs to snag victories on Wednesday. They teamed on an 8-2 triumph at No. 1 doubles. Kohl also picked up a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 3 singles over Eavan Lynch.

“I’ve never seen the women fight as hard,” Ingrahm said. “Their consistency has gone through the roof. The three returners (Koll, Kohl and junior Grace Hollenbeck) all played well and showed improvement in various areas of their games.”

Wednesday’s match was the first for both Concordia teams since hosting Tabor College on March 1.

The Bulldog tennis programs have matches scheduled in each of the next three days. Up next is a women’s match between Concordia and Bethany at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Weather permitting, the match will be held on the outdoor courts on campus.