SEWARD, Neb. – In the second outing of the young season for the Concordia University men’s tennis team, sophomore Gabe Poling produced the lone winner in an 8-1 home loss that came at the hands of NCAA Division II William Jewell College (Mo.) inside the Fieldhouse on Thursday evening.
Third-year head coach Joel Reckewey’s squad now stands at 0-2 overall. The Bulldogs dropped a 6-3 decision last week in their season opener at Baker University (Kan.).
“I was pleased with the way we started out in doubles. We were ready to go,” Reckewey said. “Unfortunately, our effort in the doubles wasn’t enough to capture a victory. Gabe Poling continues to fight to the end and be a very resilient tennis player.”
Poling went to three sets before claiming a 6-2, 5-7, 10-7 win over Bjorn Myers at No. 4 singles. At the No. 1 spot, senior Patricio Esquivel won seven games, but fell, 7-5, 6-2. The rest of the singles lineup included Thomas Greeff at No. 2, Lucas Zoller at No. 3, Tommy McNish at No. 5 and Josh Miller at No. 6.
After missing the season opener, senior Javier Moreno returned and paired with freshman Alex Kaldahl at No. 3 doubles. The other two doubles combos were Esquivel and Poling at No. 1 and Greeff and Zoller at No. 2.
The Bulldogs will be departing from Seward early on Friday morning in preparation for a match in Des Moines, Iowa, at Grand View University (Iowa). Concordia’s men’s and women’s tennis teams will be in action versus the Vikings. First serve is set for 10:30 a.m. CT.