KEARNEY, Neb. – Concordia University, Nebraska Women’s Tennis team clinched two singles victories but fell to McPherson College (Kan.), 2-5. Dominant No. 1 Mariana Molano and newcomer Ishane Derman seized their first wins of 2025. The two teams met at a neutral site at the University of Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 1).
The Seward squad is 1-1 with plenty of the season remaining to make a move in the non-conference schedule.
“Proud of how we competed today against a very good McPherson team. It was good to play against outside competition and see what we need to work on. We are excited to get back to work in preparation for the rest of our season!”
After falling in doubles, CUNE needed a win to start singles and Molano took out the Kansas team’s top dog in Vanessa Hofer (7-6(3), 7-6 (1)). The Bogotá, Colombia, native needed tiebreak sets to seal the first team point but took the match when it mattered at the end of each set.
No. 5 Ishane defeated her opponent Ava Bolin in straight sets (6-3, 6-3) continuing her hot streak from the spring. The Lomé, Africa, freshman has started her early dual record at 2-0 and was a Kansas Wesleyan Invitational champion in the Fall.
No. 2 Chakira Derman went toe to toe with Taimi Nashiku in set one before falling 5-7, 6-1. No. 6 Freshman Nina Milic found herself down after set one (3-6) but showed some early grit pushing the second set before eventually giving a tie break victory to Maddie Dobson (6-7 (6)).
The rest of the singles lineup featured No. 3 Alana Lopez Pagan and No. 4 Alexa Richert.
Concordia competed in doubles but was unable to get the point with No. 1s Molano and Ishane, No. 2s Chakira and Lopez Pagan or No. 3s Richert and Tessa Blough.
The Bulldogs (1-1) will take on Mount Marty in a non-conference matchup on Thursday (Feb. 13). The two teams will meet in Yankton, S.D. at 12 p.m. CT.