SEWARD, Neb. – Concordia University, Nebraska Women’s Tennis earned the third seed in the GPAC tournament and will face No. 6 seed College of Saint Mary in the quarterfinals on Friday (April 25). The two teams are set to clash at the Mason Family Tennis Complex and the winner will compete against No. 2 Doane. The squad finished with a 4-2 conference record in the six matches of GPAC play.
GPAC Tournament – (full pairings at bottom)
Quarterfinals: Friday, April 25 vs. College of Saint Mary (3-7, 1-5 GPAC), 11 a.m.
--Location: Mason Family Tennis Complex (Sioux City, Iowa)
Semifinals: Friday, April 25 vs. Doane (13-6, 5-1 GPAC), 3 p.m.
--Location: Mason Family Tennis Complex (Sioux City, Iowa)
· The second season under Head Coach Lisa Hart saw dramatic improvement (11-8, 2024) in overall wins, tallying a 14-4 overall showing. The Bulldogs’ most impressive stretch came form March 8-March 26 playing six duals and outscoring their opponents (40-2) in dominant fashion. Their two conference losses came via one point versus No. 1 Morningside (3-4) and No. 2 Doane (3-4).
· The final GPAC regular season standings finished with Morningside (6-0) repeating as GPAC regular season champs. The Tigers (5-1) grabbed second and Bulldogs (4-2) finished in the top three. Northwestern (3-3), Hastings (2-4) and CSM (1-5) round out the bottom three in postseason play. Mount Marty (0-6) finished in seventh place.
· It came down to the final match on senior day and the winner would take the second seed plus a first round bye in the GPAC tournament. Doane’s Kat Johnson would swing for the clinching match to finish off Tessa Blough in three sets (6-7 (3), 6-4, 4-6). The Dawgs lost the doubles point early but No. 2 Chakira Derman would keep her 13 match streak alive in singles. No. 4 Ishane Derman and No. 5 Alexa Richert would also take victories to add up to the three points for the barely missed win.
· In the final regular season match, Concordia welcomed NCAA Division two’s Fort Hays State to Walz Fieldhouse as the Tigers would win over CUNE (2-5). No. 1s Chakira and Alana Lopez Pagan defeated Shreethika Vangala and Janae Montoya (6-2) but the other two dropped doubles matches. No. 1 Mariana Molano defeated Vangala in a 6-4, 6-0 route. In the highest contested bout in the dual, freshman Ishane prevailed (7-6 (1), 4-6, 10-7) over Yone Pereiro in a third set tiebreaker.
· With 14 total wins, the Bulldogs have a chance to have the best season in program history in terms of victories. With one more win over CSM, the 2025 Concordia women’s tennis team would tie the record (15) set by the 2019 season under former Coach David DeSimone. Potential tying season record. With a spectacular first season almost finished, Ishane has undoubtedly been a massive boost to the lineup. The Lomé, Africa, native made minced meat of her competitors with a five match win streak and a 16-1 record. With two more triumphs, Ishane will eclipse the single season record set by Marlene Maier (2018-19).
· Singles play has been utterly dominant, with an 86-22 record throughout the year. Ishane (16), Chakira (15), Molano (14), Lopez Pagan (12) and Richert (12) have all reached double digit wins as mainstays in their respective positions. In doubles, the Bulldogs are 36-18 with Blough and Richert (won eight consecutive before FHSU loss) having the most wins (11) as a pair and Lopez Pagan and Chakira (9-4) having the greatest win percentage (.692)
· Concordia will be looking to go further than last year’s exit from the GPAC tournament. The Bulldogs were defeated in the semifinals by Midland, 2-4. In the history of the GPAC tournament (first held in 2001), the program has reached the conference final three times (2008, 2011 and 2019). The ’19 team narrowly missed out on a GPAC tournament title and trip to the national tournament. That squad lost by a score of 5-4 versus Hastings in the championship match. In the 23 all-time GPAC tournaments, Concordia has reached at least the semifinal round 12 times.
2025 GPAC Women’s Tennis Tournament
Friday, April 25 – Quarterfinals
(4) Northwestern vs. (5) Hastings, 9 a.m.
(3) Concordia vs. (6) CSM, 11 a.m.
Friday, April 25 – Semifinals
(1) Morningside vs. 4/5 winner, 1 p.m.
(2) Doane vs. 3/6 winner, 3 p.m.
Saturday, April 26 – Championship
1:30 p.m.