SEWARD, Neb. – Confidence is growing for a Concordia University Women’s Tennis team coming off GPAC wins last week over Mount Marty and Northwestern. By the end of this week, the Bulldogs will have a real good idea of where they stand among their conference rivals. Concordia will host College of Saint Mary on Tuesday, head to Hastings on Wednesday and then welcome conference leader Midland to town on Saturday. Head Coach Cam Long’s squad sits at 4-7 overall (2-1 GPAC).
This Week
Tuesday, April 5 vs. College of Saint Mary (5-3, 1-1 GPAC), 5 p.m.
Wednesday, April 6 at Hastings (2-9, 1-2 GPAC), 3 p.m.
Saturday, April 9 vs. Midland (14-3, 3-0 GPAC), 11 a.m.
By the numbers
· One of three teams to share the 2021 GPAC regular season title, the Bulldogs are judged to be right in the middle of the pack this season. Concordia landed at No. 4 in the official GPAC ratings released last Monday (March 28). The top three in the ratings were Midland, Morningside and Doane. The Bulldogs dropped a 6-1 decision at Morningside on March 26 and still has yet to go up against Midland and Doane. Last season, Concordia went 6-1 in conference play with the only loss coming at the hands of Doane.
· The Bulldogs shook off the loss to Morningside and earned wins last week over Mount Marty, 7-0, and Northwestern, 5-2. Long was encouraged his team’s ability to pull out the close ones against the Red Raiders. In that match, Concordia won tiebreakers at the Nos. 2 and 3 doubles spots and also at the Nos. 5 and 6 singles positions. In other words, Northwestern wasn’t far from swinging the team result in the other direction. Long believes his squad has improved significantly after persevering through a four-match skid to begin the month of March.
· Combined in the wins over Mount Marty and Northwestern, the Bulldogs went 10-2 in singles and 6-0 in doubles. At the top of the lineup, Sofia Morales moved her singles record within GPAC play to 3-0. Morales went 2-0 last week in singles – so too did Tessa Blough, Kylie Freudenburg and Megan Hakes. In doubles, Long used five different combinations. At No. 1, Morales and Blough went 2-0 last week. Morales is now 8-2 all-time in GPAC singles contests.
· Cumulatively this season, the Concordia women are 27-39 (.409) in singles and 13-20 (.394) in doubles. The Bulldogs have been better within the GPAC – 11-7 in singles and 6-3 in doubles. Morales paces the squad with six singles wins. She’s also won three times in doubles. Next in line with the most singles wins are Hakes (4-3) and Blough (4-7). Concordia’s lineup is largely different from the one that pushed the program into a share of the 2021 GPAC regular season title.
· Based on the current GPAC ratings, the Bulldogs will be going up against the conference’s No. 6 team (CSM), No. 5 team (Hastings) and No. 1 team (Midland) as part of this week’s action. How this week turns out could again depend upon whether Concordia finds a way in the close matches. In 2021 regular season play, the Bulldogs defeated Hastings, 6-1, CSM, 4-3, and Midland, 4-3. Now receiving votes nationally, the Warriors have made a big leap forward from last season when they went 6-10 overall (4-4 GPAC). Midland’s lineup looks much different.
Next week
Conference play will wrap up on April 12 with a match at Doane. On the horizon are two nonconference contests – at Kansas Wesleyan University on April 19 and versus Nebraska Wesleyan on April 21.