SEWARD, Neb. – An opportunity to place as high as fourth in the GPAC standings presents itself in the final week of the 2022-23 regular season. Concordia University Women’s Tennis is coming off a week that saw it go 2-1 with wins over Grand View University (Iowa) and Mount Marty. In closing the regular season, the Bulldogs will be headed to College of Saint Mary on Wednesday and to Northwestern on Saturday. Head Coach Cam Long’s squad enters the week at 10-8 overall (2-3 GPAC).
This Week
Wednesday, April 19 at College of Saint Mary (3-7, 1-4 GPAC), 4 p.m.
--Location: Omaha, Neb.
Saturday, April 22 at Northwestern (8-8, 3-2 GPAC), 11 a.m.
--Location: NWC Tennis Courts (Orange City, Iowa)
By the numbers
· At 2-3 in conference play, Concordia is looking up in the GPAC standings at Midland (4-0), Morningside (3-0), Doane (5-1) and Northwestern (3-2). Currently, the bottom three spots are held down by College of Saint Mary (1-4), Hastings (1-4) and Mount Marty (0-5). The Warriors are looking to secure back-to-back GPAC regular season titles. Midland (currently receiving votes nationally) won the 2022 conference title with a league mark of 7-0.
· In last week’s action, the Concordia women went a combined 11-7 in singles and 6-3 in doubles. Team results included a 5-2 win over Grand View, a forfeit win over Mount Marty and a 6-1 loss at Midland. Against Grand View, the Bulldogs won four of six singles and two of three doubles matches. Versus Mount Marty, Concordia won every single match. At Midland, the Bulldogs won one singles and one doubles match. It was a fine week for Mariana Molano, who defeated the reigning GPAC Player of the Year from Midland while going 2-0 in both singles and doubles. Gabrielle Heiser went 3-0 in doubles for the week. Two singles wins were also claimed by Ella Dean and Brooke Hosick.
· Collectively, the Concordia women are 56-49 in singles and 33-20 in doubles through 18 matches this season. Molano has improved to 12-5 in singles (nine doubles wins). Four of her teammates own six singles wins apiece: Dean (6-5), Lopez Pagan (6-8), Hosick (6-9) and Blough (6-10). The team’s winningest doubles combo has been Dean and Tara Ferrel, who have gone 6-4 when paired together. Heiser and Molano are a spotless 4-0 as a duo.
· The 10 overall wins by the 2022-23 team are equal to the number achieved by the 2020-21 squad that shared the GPAC regular season title. It also represents a significant improvement from 2021-22 when the Bulldogs finished at 6-11 overall. The school record for wins in a season is 15 by the 2018-19 squad that came up just shy of reaching the national tournament while placing as the GPAC tournament runner up.
· The Bulldogs will attempt to avenge the two defeats they suffered last season at the hands of College of Saint Mary (5-2 and 4-0) while aspiring to duplicate last season’s result versus Northwestern (a 5-2 win). The Flames boast perhaps the league’s top player in Renee Acena, named the 2021 GPAC Player of the Year. The matchup between Molano and Acena will be one to watch on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Red Raiders have shown marked improvement in shaking off last season’s 4-12 overall record. The Concordia-Northwestern match may end up determining which team places fourth in the standings.
Next week
The 2023 GPAC tournament is scheduled to take place April 28-29 in Omaha. Seeding will be announced once all GPAC regular season matches have been completed.