Swedes grab 5-4 win over Bulldogs

By on Mar. 28, 2014 in Women's Tennis

Swedes grab 5-4 win over Bulldogs

SEWARD, Neb. – Friday’s match marked the second-straight day the Concordia University women’s tennis team took on Bethany College (Kan.) inside the Walz Fieldhouse. The visiting Swedes (3-3) completed a sweep by taking a 5-4 decision on Friday in a match that played out much more competitively than the previous night’s 8-1 final.

While the Bulldogs slipped to 0-4 on the season, graduate assistant coach James Ingrahm likes the positive steps the squad has taken.

“Today was a good day,” Ingrahm said. “All of the girls improved from last night. They played more of an attacking style but weren’t afraid to make the point last as long as it needed to.”

Concordia doomed itself to a lopsided defeat on Thursday after dropping all three doubles matches. This time around the Bulldogs gave themselves a shot by getting an 8-5 win from the No. 1 combo of senior Katelyn Koll and junior Elyse Kohl.

Koll, who hails from Wilber, Neb., also picked up her third-straight singles victory by topping Juliana Bezerra, 8-3, at No. 1. Thursday night she defeated Bethany’s Kara Agamaite, 6-2, 6-2. Koll ran her singles and doubles marks to 3-1 after Friday’s play.

“Katelyn continues in dominating style as she rolls through the competition,” Ingrahm said.

Her namesake, Kohl, also had a perfect day. She knocked off Agamaite, 8-4, at No. 2 singles after teaming up with Koll. It was the first career match for Kohl at the No. 2 position. She pushed her season singles record to 3-1.

Concordia’s additional win came at No. 3 singles, where junior Grace Hollenbeck offered up an 8-2 triumph over Mackenzi Choitz, who had defeated Kohl the night before.

Bethany won at singles Nos. 4, 5 and 6 – spots occupied by Concordia newcomers Megan Burgdorf, Laura Sattler and Christine Ruskamp.

The Bulldogs will play twice more on Saturday with GPAC-opening matches against Midland (11 a.m.) and Morningside (2 p.m.) in Fremont, Neb.  The Warriors are 2-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play. The Red Raiders are 2-4 and have yet to play a GPAC opponent.