Head Coach: Cam Long (2nd season)
2021-22 record: 6-11 overall, 3-4 GPAC (5th)
Key returners: Tessa Blough (So.); Tara Ferrel (Jr.); Kylie Freudenburg (So.); Brooke Hosick (So.).
Key losses: Megan Hakes; Sofia Morales; Julia Phillips.
Key Newcomers: Ella Dean; Lauren Gottberg; Gabrielle Heiser; Alana Lopez Pagan; Mariana Molano.
2022 GPAC All-Conference: Tessa Blough (doubles; HM singles); Sofia Morales (singles/doubles).
Outlook
A youth movement began in 2021-22 and will continue this spring for the Concordia University Women’s Tennis program. In the team’s final outing this past fall, the Bulldogs started four freshmen in their singles lineup while learning some lessons in a loss to NCAA Division II William Jewell College. The circumstances haven’t dampened enthusiasm for the spring. Head Coach Cam Long’s squad has found a legit No. 1 player in Mariana Molano, leader of a freshman class that brought an infusion of talent into the program. Concordia’s run during the fall included a win over Iowa Central Community College.
The new look to the lineup provides a jolt of energy and optimism that the Bulldogs can move up from their fifth place GPAC finish of 2022. Concordia ended the campaign at 6-11 overall in what was Long’s first year as a collegiate head coach.
“I think we have a solid foundation with the freshmen on both teams,” Long said. “It’s on me – and on them as well – for them to keep improving throughout their careers – they will. I think we’re at a good starting point with them. You always want to compete and do well. I think the conference is going to be good this year for both men and women. I don’t know if the freshmen fully know what to expect yet.”
While freshmen are already making a significant impact, the Bulldogs can lean upon the experience of Tara Ferrel, a Lincoln North Star High School alum who has served as a lineup regular for a fourth year at Concordia. In addition, sophomores Tessa Blough, Kylie Freudenburg and Brooke Hosick each got their feet wet last year and are going to push for spots in the singles and doubles lineups. The Cody Wyo., native Blough garnered all-conference honors in both singles and doubles as a freshman in 2022. In doubles, she often worked alongside Sofia Morales, who stands out as the most accomplished departure from last season’s roster.
No need to despair. The Bogota, Colombia, native Molano has shown she’s ready for primetime. Molano made immediate waves back in the fall when she reached the singles semifinals of the ITA Central-West Regional Championships. That impressive run pushed Molano to No. 4 in the ITA NAIA Central Region singles rankings. In addition, Molano and fellow freshman Ella Dean (Lincoln, Neb.) are rated as the region’s No. 10 doubles combo. Other freshmen who experienced their first taste of collegiate action during the fall were Lauren Gottberg, Gabrielle Heiser and Alana Lopez Pagan.
“Kind of like the men, they’ve been competitive throughout the lineup in practices,” Long said. “I think we have a lot of depth. That showed in the fall as well. Mariana made it to the semifinals of the ITA regionals and she’s ranked fourth in the central region as a singles player. She set the bar really high for herself right away. Tessa Blough and Alana Lopez Pagan won the doubles title of the fall GPAC tournament. That was really exciting to see. I think we made some noise with a lot of our young players. It will be fun to see how we stack up. I think we have the talent to do well. We have to grow as a team and improve as we go.”
Ferrel has won a combined 29 singles/doubles matches during her collegiate career. Through the fall and winter, Ferrel sees a team that has grown in confidence. The Bulldogs aspire to finish in the top three of the GPAC. Said Ferrel, “Collectively as a team, I think we learned that we’re better than we think we are. We’re very young, so I think some of them were doubting themselves. Once matches got started, we figured out we’re better than what we originally thought we were. We’ve been working really hard during the fall and into the winter. Hopefully that pays off for our spring matches.”
In the fall’s final dual match, Molano and Lopez Pagan held down the top two singles spots while Ferrel played at No. 3. The remaining singles spots were taken up by Dean, Hosick and Heiser, in that order. Over the three fall duals, Long tried out seven different doubles combinations. Blough paired twice with Lopez Pagan while Molano worked once with both Dean and Ferrel. Things are still taking shape.
Says Ferrel, “I think we’re getting more comfortable with each other both on and off the court. In the fall it was a lot of individual growth but now I think we’re seeing more growth as a team, specifically with our doubles. I think we’ve improved a lot. In singles, we do try to push each other in practices so we grow individually.”
The spring season will get started on Saturday (Feb. 11) when Grand View University will visit Seward. It will be the first of 10 nonconference matches leading up to a home GPAC clash with Hastings on March 25. In other words, there’s time for individual players to grow into their roles.
“The most exciting thing for me is working with a group of people who want to get better,” Long said. “There are going to be some bumps along the road, and they’ll probably do some things that surprise themselves in a good way. We have to work through that and hopefully once we get to the conference portion of the schedule, we’re playing our best.”