LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Concordia Women’s Tennis team faced off against Ottawa University (Kan.) on Friday afternoon (Feb. 16). The Bulldogs couldn’t keep up with the Braves, falling 1-6 in their fourth dual of the season. Mariana Molano would battle for the squad, keeping the home team from a sweep by winning a third set tiebreaker in her singles match. CUNE takes a step back to 2-2 on the year, as it will look to go back above .500 next week.
Head Coach Lisa Hart commented on the match. “I’m very proud of our team. The dual was a lot closer than the scores showed. It will be great to get back to practice tomorrow and work on some areas where we didn’t execute today. Each player competed hard and represented our program well. We are already looking forward to playing Kansas Wesleyan next Thursday.”
In singles, No. 2 Molano had a rough first set (2-6) loss, but the star out of Aspaen Gimnasio Iragua came roaring back in the second set (6-1), only giving up one game to Paula Persson. In the tiebreaker, Persson responded, climbing to a 9-4 lead over Molano. Only able to allow one more point (10-point tiebreaker), the Bogotá, Colombia native stepped on the gas to take eight straight points in the comeback victory. She has won three straight singles matches, starting a hot streak early in her 2023-24 campaign.
Alana Lopez-Pagan and Molano at No. 2s, pushed Isidora Hrnjak and Lily Keimig to the brink, before losing 6-7 in a doubles tiebreaker. Brooke Hosick and Kemig would also need a second set tiebreaker (6-7) to settle the No. 6 singles slot, in favor of the Braves.
Others competing for the Bulldogs in singles were: No. 1 Chakira Derman (3-6, 3-6), No. 3 Tessa Blough (0-6, 3-6), No. 4 Alexa Richert (2-6, 2-6) and No. 5 Lopez-Pagan (4-6, 2-6).
Ottawa (2-1) has bested two GPAC teams, winning over Hastings in its season opener on Sunday (Feb. 4). They have five more duals before entering KCAC play.
Concordia (2-2) will have a week break before meeting Kansas Wesleyan University (2-1) at the Grand Island Tennis Center. The two teams are set to twist their rackets at 10 a.m. CT. The Bulldogs are 5-3 against the Coyotes since 2009.