Head Coach: Lisa Hart (2nd season at Concordia; 23rd season overall as a college head coach)
2023-24 record: 11-8 overall, 5-2 GPAC (3rd)
Returners: Tessa Blough (Sr.); Chakira Derman (So.); Mia Golka (So.); Lauren Gottberg (Jr.); Gabrielle Heiser (Jr.); Alana Lopez Pagan (Jr.); Mariana Molano (Jr.); Alexa Richert (So.).
Newcomers: Kady Bierbaum; Ishane Derman; Nina Milic.
2024 GPAC All-Conference: Tessa Blough (HM Doubles); Chakira Derman (Singes / HM Doubles); Alana Lopez Pagan (HM Singles / HM Doubles); Mariana Molano (Singles / HM Doubles); Alexa Richert (Singles).
Outlook
Eight student-athletes return from the 2023-24 roster for a Concordia University, Nebraska Women’s Tennis program featuring plenty of familiar faces. Head Coach Lisa Hart continues to pore her wisdom and acumen into an outfit that aspires to compete at the top of the conference. In year one of Hart’s tenure, the Bulldogs placed third in the GPAC while setting a baseline. Considering the relative youthful nature of last season’s roster, the results hint at a promising spring of 2025.
The 2024-25 roster of 11 team members is made up of one senior, five juniors, three sophomores and two freshmen. Hart says that there is a noticeable difference between the current team and the one she presided over at this time a year ago.
“What I’m really encouraged by is we’ve improved a lot, and we have added some new players that will be in our lineup,” Hart said. “Our players want to play for a championship. That’s their goal. We can do it. They have really bought in. It’s just about getting a little bit better every day and focusing on their attitude and effort. Every single day we are improving. We have a bunch of competitors and great kids that have bought into what we are doing. Our goal is to be playing on that final day of GPAC (postseason).”
The final dual record last season stood at 11-8 (5-2 GPAC). Morningside and Midland were the lone conference opponents to hand the Bulldogs a loss. Concordia advanced to the 2024 GPAC tournament semifinals before having its season halted. That result should fuel a ’25 squad that has the luxury of welcoming back five GPAC All-Conference honorees: senior Tessa Blough, juniors Alana Lopez Pagan and Mariana Molano and sophomores Chakira Derman and Alexa Richert.
At the top of the lineup, Derman (9-9) and Molano (11-5) combined for 20 singles wins last season and possess the ability to perform on the same level of the GPAC’s top players. A Bogotá, Colombia, native, Molano also teamed up with Lopez Pagan for a 10-5 doubles record in 2024. Meanwhile, Derman, who hails from Lomé, Togo (Africa), was a major addition recruited by Hart. Chakira’s sister Ishane also joined the program this past fall.
Says Hart of Chakira and Mariana, “They are both playing their best tennis right now since they have been here. They kind of feed off of each other. Then the rest of the lineup feeds off the top of the lineup. We have a lot of parody on the team. We have 10 kids who could be in the lineup and there are only six spots. It’s making practices more competitive and the top two really help the rest of the lineup step up their game.”
The fall semester did nothing but build confidence within the team. This past September, the Bulldogs earned a 5-2 dual win at Nebraska Wesleyan University and competed through two weekends of individual tournament action. As just a freshman, Ishane Derman made waves while winning her singles bracket at the Kansas Wesleyan Invite.
A sophomore from Gillette, Wyo., with a 10-5 singles record last season, Richert says the team has carried over momentum from the end of the 2024 season when it went on a stretch of five wins in six matches. “We did really well,” Richert said. “We ended last spring on a high note. We were doing great and playing really well together. Then this year we added a couple of additions to our team that have fit really well with our team. We are going to do real well this spring and our fall season shows that. We played well in the fall and won matches. I’m excited to see the difference.”
An inspirational student-athlete and winner of the 2024 ITA Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award at the NAIA level, the senior Blough has been a regular in the lineup since she arrived at Concordia in the fall of 2021. The Cody, Wyo., native is widely regarded as an influential leader within the team and on the campus as a whole. Blough will be the lone senior that will compete in 2025.
In the dual with Nebraska Wesleyan in the fall, Hart’s singles lineup featured, in order, Molano, Chakira Derman, Lopez Pagan, Blough, Richert and Ishane Derman. The depth of the roster continues with juniors Kady Bierbaum, Lauren Gotteberg and Gabrielle Heiser. Considering the wealth of talent and experience, the Bulldogs begin 2025 as one of the GPAC favorites. Official conference ratings posted to NAIA.org show Morningside at No. 1, Mount Marty at No. 2 and Concordia at No. 3 in the GPAC.
Richert and her teammates will certainly strive for better than third place. Richert believes the team is ready to hit the ground running as the calendar flips to February. “We have played a lot of matches, so we won’t come into the season starting off cold,” Richert said. “We have practiced through the winter and have not taken a bunch of months off. That’s really going to help us. We are so close as a team, on and off the court. That helps us in the long run to be able to lean on each other and support each other.”
The aim is to continue to be supportive teammates while simultaneously pushing each other within the lineup. Hart is working on firming up the singles and doubles lineups as the official start to the spring season looms this weekend. Hart has been pleased with the improvement she sees across the board. Each player has reached a higher level as compared to the first experience of college tennis.
Says Hart, “That’s kind of been our thing with both teams. Just get a little bit better every day. Be yourself. Don’t try to be someone you’re not. The more our teams do that, the more they are going to be able to perform and play well.”
The Bulldogs will get an early barometer on where they stand on Saturday (Feb. 1) when they take on McPherson College (Kan.) in a neutral site contest in Kearney. A series of nonconference matches will take place before GPAC play gets started in mid-March. The complete 2024-25 schedule can be viewed HERE.