Head Coach: Lisa Hart (3rd season at Concordia; 24th season overall as a college head coach)
2024-25 record: 14-8 overall, 4-2 GPAC (T-2nd); GPAC tournament runner up.
Key returners: Santiago Abadia (Sr.); Michael Bedrosian (Jr.); Ben Chisholm (So.); Hugo Fuentes (Sr.); Mitch Krumm (Jr.); Joseph Melzer (Jr.); Nick Velders (Sr.).
Key losses: Manuel Rodriguez; Grady Works.
Key Newcomers: Daniel Caballeros; Leo Lopez.
2025 GPAC All-Conference: Santiago Abadia (HM Singles / Doubles); Ben Chisholm (Singles / Doubles); Hugo Fuentes (Singles / Doubles); Manuel Rodriguez (HM Doubles); Nick Velders (Singles / Doubles); Grady Works (HM Singles / HM Doubles).
Outlook
After watching the women’s program reach the national tournament in 2025, Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Tennis has its sights set on making history of its own this spring. The Bulldogs were close to realizing dreams of championship glory last April when they made a run to the title match at the GPAC tournament. Head Coach Lisa Hart and company can take satisfaction in their firm belief that the pinnacle for the program is yet to come.
In just year two of Hart’s tenure, Concordia equaled a program single season record with 14 dual wins. Hart now enters her 24th season overall as a collegiate head coach having also guided the programs at Virginia Tech and Washington State University.
“I think we’re more talented this year than we were last year,” Hart said. “Our men’s team has amazing team chemistry, and I think that’s going to help us. I think the one thing about our men’s team is they want it. They want it so bad, and sometimes that can actually hurt you. They need to stay in the moment and play the next point, rather than living too far in the past or in the future. They have a ton of enthusiasm, a ton of drive and are so much fun to be around. They definitely make each other better.”
Concordia plans to put that talent and chemistry together while taking another shot at a GPAC championship this spring. The most recent conference title for Bulldog Men’s Tennis occurred in 1990, prior to the advent of the GPAC in 2000. Last season’s team advanced to the conference final via postseason wins over Doane and Mount Marty. In the title match, Concordia was defeated by Morningside, a squad that opens this season ranked No. 13 in the NAIA coaches’ poll.
The Mustangs are likely to be a force to be reckoned with again this spring, but the Bulldogs will provide a hearty challenge thanks to an experienced lineup. Concordia welcomes back GPAC Player of the Year Nick Velders, a 2025 NAIA Second Team All-American. Velders is one of five returning players from the singles lineup that matchup up with Morningside in the ’25 GPAC final. Velders went a near spotless 19-2 in singles matches last season. For virtually all of 2024-25, Velders played at No. 2 while Hugo Fuentes held down the No. 1 spot.
“I think we really came together as a team – incredible team chemistry,” said Hart in reflecting on last season. “They get along so well, which I think does translate to some points on the court. They’re very hungry for more. We lost in the championship of the GPAC tournament last year. That’s not sitting right with them. They have been determined every single day to come out on the other side of that this year. There is a lot of work to do and a lot of matches to play to get there.”
Concordia projects to be strong in both singles and doubles, just as it was last season when it posted team records of 81-44 in singles and 43-23 in doubles. While Velders broke the program single season record for singles wins, Santiago Abadia did the same in doubles with 16 victories. Abadia also won 10 times in singles. Another returning leader is Ben Chisholm, who posted a 13-8 singles mark in his first season as a Bulldog. Abadia and Chisholm won 15 doubles matches as a pair. Meanwhile, Fuentes and Velders claimed 13 doubles wins as a tandem.
Abadia, Chisholm, Fuentes and Velders each earned GPAC All-Conference awards last season. In one of the major stories of this past fall season, Fuentes and Velders teamed up to reach the finals of the ITA NAIA Central-West Regional Championships held in Salina, Kan., and are ranked No. 21 in the NAIA for doubles. On the flip side, the program graduated two of its all-conference honorees in Manuel Rodriguez and Grady Works.
Despite the loss of a couple of key seniors, the Bulldogs remain a close-knit bunch. Said Fuentes, a Denia, Spain, native, “We’re really united. We’re all good friends. We have a house where we all go and hang out. It’s really fun. I really enjoy being around the guys. We’re still coming together as a team with new members that just joined us. I love my teammates.”
Indeed, Concordia has two exceptionally new teammates in Daniel Caballeros (a Guatemala native who transferred from Union Commonwealth University) and freshman Leo Lopez (Santa Cruz, Bolivia). Both international student-athletes arrived at the start of the second semester and have shown they belong. Hart is expecting the two new Bulldogs to make an immediate impact. As a sign of the program’s healthy environment, Caballeros and Lopez have been welcomed with open arms.
“They’re going to help us for sure,” Hart said. “The really neat thing about our men’s team is nobody cares where they are in the lineup. They just want to win as a team. They really bought into that we need four points. They don’t care who’s playing what number. They just want to win the four points, which I think is a special thing for an individual sport. These guys have bought into the whole team concept.”
The group of returners also includes juniors Michael Bedrosian, Mitch Krumm, Joseph Melzer and Ethan Phinney. Meanwhile, Ognjen Gajic is another transfer. Lopez is one of three freshmen. The others are Ben Firminhac and Gavin Mertens. In other words, there’s plenty of depth that Hart can tap into throughout the spring.
The Bulldogs will know a lot more about themselves when the action heats up in February. Understandably, expectations are high. Says Fuentes, “That’s the intention (to win GPAC). Last year was a tiny piece of what’s coming. I think we have a really big opportunity this year of breaking every record and going to nationals. We have an amazing team.”
Hart encourages such big goals and dreams while also strongly emphasizing academic and community pursuits. In the preseason, Hart is preparing both teams with the expectation of making a trip to Mobile, Ala., in May. So far, the individual players are doing the right things.
“We could go down and talk about each kid,” Hart said. “They’ve all stepped up. I feel like when one does something, another steps up and one-ups them. Everyone just keeps doing things better. I was thinking about the different rankings and records and it’s kind of all trumped because all they want to do is win as a team. We’re really good individually too. That’s where the focus is – how well we can do as a team. That’s trumping everything else.”
The complete 2025-26 Concordia Men’s Tennis schedule can be found HERE. The Bulldogs are scheduled to kick off their spring season while hosting Sterling College (Kan.) on Feb. 7.