Head Coach: Lisa Hart (2nd season at Concordia; 23rd season overall as a college head coach)
2023-24 record: 8-13 overall, 2-4 GPAC (T-5th)
Returners: Santiago Abadia (Jr.); Michael Bedrosian (So.); Hugo Fuentes (Jr.); Mitch Krumm (So.); Ethan Phinney (So.); Manuel Rodriguez (Sr.); Grady Works (Sr.).
Newcomers: Ben Chisholm; Joey Melzer; Nick Velders.
2024 GPAC All-Conference: Santiago Abadia (HM Doubles); Hugo Fuentes (HM Doubles).
Outlook
Only one senior departed from Head Coach Lisa Hart’s 2023-24 roster. In other words, the Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Tennis program welcomes back virtually all its key figures from a squad that experienced its share of ups and downs. Formerly the head coach at Virginia Tech and Washington State University, Hart sees a roster better equipped to compete with the top teams in the GPAC. The Bulldogs began laying groundwork for the spring of 2025 during this past fall semester.
When factoring in the three newcomers to the roster, Concordia believes strongly that it is trending in the right direction. The lineup has been fortified with enhanced quantity and quality as compared to a year ago.
“I’m really impressed with our returners,” Hart said. “They are way better tennis players than they were a year ago. They are even better now. Then we have the three new players, two transfers, Nick Velders and Joey Melzer, and Ben Chisholm, our freshman from Australia. With those three guys in our lineup with our returners, we are much improved from last year.”
The 2023-24 campaign, Hart’s first season leading the program, saw the Bulldogs finish with a dual record of 8-13 overall (2-4 GPAC). Just a few seasons earlier, Concordia placed as the GPAC runner up while showing the program has the potential to rise up near the top of the league standings. As for this year’s squad, juniors Santiago Abadia and Hugo Fuentes were both recognized with Honorable Mention All-GPAC accolades last season for their work on the doubles court.
Abadia and Fuentes are two of the headlining returners for a group teeming with experience. There are six holdovers who competed in at least 16 matches during dual action last season, including seniors Manuel Rodriguez and Grady Works and sophomores Michael Bedrosian and Mitch Krumm. Bedrosian paced the team with nine singles victories last season while Rodriguez claimed 14 singles wins in 2023. The only departure from last season is Luke Johnson.
Says the Lincoln Southwest High School alum Works, “Out of all of our practices, the level has just been super high from the top to the bottom of the roster. Everyone is playing great tennis, and it is really competitive in practice. The fact that we have so many good players on the team really helps us.”
Back in the fall, the Bulldogs engaged in a dual with Nebraska Wesleyan University and took part in two weekends of individual tournaments. A transfer from Prairie State College, Nick Velders immediately jumped into the lineup at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles as part of the 6-1 win over the Prairie Wolves. Velders is expected to play a key role along with two newcomers that joined the team at the start of the second semester: Chisholm and Melzer, both of Australia.
The dynamics lead Hart to believe that Concordia move up from the fifth-place GPAC finish it turned in last season when it placed behind Morningside, Midland, Mount Marty and Doane. The new arrivals and the way they have contributed to the program’s culture has a lot to do with such sentiments.
“Nick had a great fall season,” Hart said of Velders. “He finished with an ITA regional ranking and had some really good wins. Him and Hugo in doubles were fantastic in the fall. We’re really excited about Nick. We think he will be in one of those top couple of spots. Then we have the two guys from Australia. Joey is 6-3. Huge serve. Ben is kind of an all-around player. He’s been excellent in practice. They have been awesome. Our men’s team is really close off the court too and those three new players have just gelled with those guys.”
In addition to four U.S. natives, Concordia’s roster includes representation from Australia, Colombia, The Netherlands and Spain. Within the tennis program, they have come together and bonded around a common goal while developing tight bonds.
Says Works, “The team chemistry is great. Half the team lives together and the other half is there all the time anyways. Everyone is friends with each other, and we sit together in the dining hall. We all get along great.”
The budding chemistry along with the increased talent level have the Bulldogs dreaming big heading into the spring. The extensive and impressive coaching credentials brought by Hart are also impacting the program in a positive manner. Works has glowing remarks for Hart and calls her the “best coach we could ask for.”
Said Hart in looking back over the past year, “Our players did a really good job of learning what our expectations are and made a lot of progress. This fall we kind of got to see those results we were hoping for, especially in the GPAC individual tournament with our men’s team. We won all the doubles draws. That was a great way to end the fall.”
Said Works when asked about the team’s expectations, “The conversations when hanging out and talking about the season are about how good we actually are this year. Concordia really hasn’t been in this position prior to having Coach Hart here. Now that we have a lot of talent and a lot of good players, we talk about how we can win the GPAC.”
In this final week of preparation leading up to the season opener, Hart will look to nail down her singles and doubles lineups. In the matchup with Wesleyan, the singles lineup, in order, included Fuentes, Velders, Abadia, Rodriguez, Bedrosian and Works. There figure to be some tweaks this spring as Chisholm and Melzer add their names to the mix.
The Bulldogs will face a major early season test on Saturday (Feb. 1) when they take on 22nd-ranked McPherson College (Kan.) in a neutral site contest in Kearney. A series of nonconference matches will take place before GPAC play gets started in mid-March. The complete 2024-25 schedule can be viewed HERE.