CRETE, Neb. – Concordia Women’s Tennis has started to build up momentum in the conference, and the team continued to roll in Crete on Tuesday (Apr. 9). The Dawgs came out with a will to win, taking all three doubles sets and three of the first four points in the 6-1 triumph. In the five singles wins, the visitors outscored the Tigers 60-15 in single games.
The young but talented squad reaches up to a 3-1 GPAC record and an 8-6 overall showing in the current campaign. Head Coach Lisa Hart commented on the play from today and future duals.
“Proud of our entire roster. We competed hard throughout doubles and singles - our players have been working hard and it is starting to pay off! We are excited to get back to practice and begin preparing for our final 3 GPAC matches.”
The doubles teams have now won two in a row and six straight sets after a clobbering by the Dawgs against their conference rivals. No. 3s Gabrielle Heiser and Alexa Richert picked up where they left off against Northwestern and defeated (6-2) Isabella Castillero and Emily Guiton in the first set to finish. No. 2s Chakira Derman and Tessa Blough kept the momentum going with a 6-3 set victory over Kat Johnson and Cierra Schwarzkopf. Finally, No. 1s Mariana Molano and Alana Lopez-Pagan sealed the duo sweep in a 7-5 win over the home team.
No. 5 Richert was the first to drop her opponent, Guiton, (6-2, 6-0) in another second set shutout. Lopez Pagan at No. 3, followed suit with a 6-1, 6-0 dominating performance over Schwarzkopf.
Up 3-1, Concordia only needed one more to take the dual. Unafraid of the pressure, No. 4 Blough finished off the Tigers with a convincing straight set win (6-2, 6-1) against Castillero. This puts the Cody, Wyo., natives’ record at 4-7 in singles and 5-7 in doubles.
No. 2 Derman continued the steamroll and took two sets from Grace Schroller in a 6-3, 6-0 consecutive set win. No. 6 Kylie Freudenburg got off to a spectacular start in her 6-0 first set. Playing from behind one game seemingly the whole set, the junior forced a 6-6 draw and a tiebreaker. Freudenburg took the sixth point with a 7-3 tiebreak win.
Doane moves to 7-10 and 0-2 in the conference. No. 1 Maria Purizaca Soto gathered the lone win against the Bulldogs. The Tigers are set to face Northwestern on Saturday in Orange City.
Concordia (8-6, 3-1 GPAC) will host College of Saint Mary (6-7, 0-3 GPAC) at the Bulldog Tennis Courts on Monday. First serve is set for 5 p.m. CT.