Tennis completes weekend in Kansas

The Concordia University tennis teams returned to action on Friday and Saturday in the state of Kansas after a layoff of nearly three weeks between varsity matches. In men’s and women’s doubleheaders that took place at NCAA Division II Washburn University and NAIA-affiliated Ottawa University, the Bulldog men split their two matches while the women went 0-2 on the weekend.

Overall, first-year head coach Joel Reckewey’s squads are now 2-4 on the men’s side and 1-6 on the women’s side.

After a 9-0 defeat at Washburn, the Concordia men regrouped with a 5-4 win over Ottawa on Saturday. The doubles combo of Daniel Apacible and Jonathan Douglas improved to 4-2 this season with an 8-4 win over the Braves pair of Brandon Edwards and Brenson Vile. Concordia, which gained a 2-1 advantage after doubles play, got singles wins from Daniel Apacible (6-3, 6-2) at No. 2, Brendan Buchanan (7-5, 6-0) at No. 5 and by default at No. 6.

On the flip side, the Bulldogs women’s two wins in the 7-2 team defeat at Ottawa both came by default. Senior Grace Hollenbeck and company also fell by a 9-0 score at Washburn the previous day.

The Bulldogs now look forward to the start of conference play on Thursday, April 9 when Doane (1-4 women; 4-2 men) visit Seward. First serve is set for 4 p.m. on the campus outdoor tennis courts.