Bulldog Weekly Report (March 1, 2016)

By Jacob Knabel on Mar. 1, 2016 in Athletic Announcements

Bulldog Booster Club Athlete of the Week

Kaleb Geiger, Baseball

Geiger, a native of Sedalia, Colo., enjoyed a big weekend at Ottawa University, where he reached base in 13 of 19 plate appearances while going 7-for-12 (.583) with a home run, two doubles and seven RBIs. On the season, the sophomore first baseman is hitting .364 with two home runs and nine RBIs. The Bulldogs won three of four games at Ottawa (Feb. 27-28).

News and notes:

Folkerts named academic All-American: On Monday the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) awarded Chandler Folkerts with Academic All-America honors for the second-straight season. A second team selection in 2014-15, Folkerts rose to the first team this season. The mathematics and physics major from Milford, Neb., sports a spotless 4.0 GPA. He finished his junior campaign with averages of 19.6 points and 8.5 rebounds while leading the GPAC with 13 double-doubles.

Track and field rakes in regional awards: A trio of Bulldogs were honored last week with regional awards named by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Zach Lurz and Kim Wood both garnered Midwest regional athlete of the year awards and Ed McLaughlin swept honors for men’s and women’s assistant coach of the year accolades. For more details on these awards, click HERE.

Lule follows Palomar teammate’s success at Concordia: Jr Lule is part of a procession of California junior college transfers that have made a major impact for Concordia wrestling. The senior from Blythe, Calif., did not even visit campus before settling on Concordia for his final college destination. The decision has benefited both Lule and the Bulldogs. For more on the 157-pound NAIA North champion, click HERE.

Dance places sixth at NAIA North Regional Qualifier: First-year head coach Heather Duff’s dance squad placed sixth at last week’s NAIA North Regional Qualifier hosted by Midland. The Bulldogs received a score of 90.33. For more on the competition, click HERE.

Men’s golf to open spring season in Florida: Head coach Brett Muller’s men’s golf program is set to tee up the spring 2016 season next week in Fort Myers, Fla. Concordia will take on Doane in dual on March 7 at Fiddlesticks Country Club in Fort Myers. The women’s golf team will wait until April 4 to resume the 2015-16 campaign.

Concordia football announces 2016 slate: The 10-game 2016 schedule for the Concordia football program has been announced. The season will kick off on Sept. 3 when the Bulldogs host Saint Mary University (Kan.) as part of the GPAC/KCAC Football Challenge. To view the complete schedule, click HERE.

Softball breaks from action: Third-year head coach Todd LaVelle’s squad has been idle since winning three of five games at the Cowtown Classic (Feb. 12-13) in Fort Worth, Texas. The Bulldogs are slated to return to action on Sunday (March 6) when they begin a 10-game swing in Tucson, Ariz.

Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 4 p.m. CT: New this year is the Bulldog Coaches Show, which runs for a half hour every Thursday beginning at 4 p.m. CT on KAWL 1370-AM. The show can also be heard live via 104.9 Max Country’s website or by downloading the TuneIn Radio app and then searching “KAWL.” Play-by-play voice Matt Harab will call the action from the women’s basketball national tournament in Sioux City in the event that head coach Drew Olson’s Bulldogs receive an at-large bid.

Concordia Sports Network: Live webcasts for most home varsity contests can be accessed by visiting http://www.cune.edu/csn at game time. Check team schedules/results pages for webcast dates. Scrimmages, exhibitions and junior varsity events are not broadcasted.

Men’s Basketball

  • For the second-straight season, the Bulldogs ended a campaign with a GPAC quarterfinal loss at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D. Concordia fell by a final of 90-82 at No. 18 Dakota Wesleyan on Feb. 24. Third-year head coach Ben Limback’s squad completed the 2015-16 season with an overall record of 18-12, marking the highest win total for the program since the 2009-10 squad finished with the exact same record. The Bulldogs continue to seek their first postseason win since the 2008-09 team advanced to the GPAC championship game. For more on Concordia men’s basketball, click HERE.
  • The 18 victories tied a high-water mark in the coaching career of Limback, who spent nine seasons at the helm of the Concordia University Ann Arbor men’s basketball post. He led the 2006-07 Cardinal team to an overall mark of 18-14, including a 9-5 record in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference. Limback possesses 157 career coaching victories in his 12 years at the NAIA Division II level. Under Limback, the Bulldogs have jumped from eight wins in 2013-14 to 16 in 2014-15 to 18 in 2015-16.
  • Three seniors saw action last week in what turned out to be the final contest of their careers. Robby Thomas, a native of Shawnee, Kan., has filled up the stat sheet in his four seasons at Concordia. He ended his career ranked inside the top of program lists in four key categories: blocks (first; 204), rebounds (eighth; 645), assists (13th; 226) and points (19th; 1,170). In just one season as a Bulldog, after transferring from Wayne State College, point guard Jamie Pearson averaged 18.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists while shooting 48.6 percent from the floor. Also a senior, Micah Kohlwey played in 82 games over the past few seasons and averaged 7.0 points per game in his career.
  • Chandler Folkerts will be the centerpiece of the 2016-17 team after completing a monster junior season in 2015-16. He averaged 19.6 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.4 blocks while shooting 66.6 percent from the field (second best among NAIA Division II players). Folkerts topped all GPAC players with 13 double-doubles. The Chanimal piled up a career high 34 points in the win at Northwestern on Jan. 9. On Concordia’s all-time lists, Folkerts currently ranks 10th in scoring (1,397) and ninth in rebounds (618).
  • With Folkerts and Pearson both amassing more than 500 points this season, the Bulldogs were a consistently potent offensive team. They ranked highly among NAIA Division II teams in several categories, including field goal percentage (fourth; .505), free throw percentage (ninth, .750) and scoring (85.8). Concordia’s scoring average marked the third highest in program history. Four of the Bulldogs’ five starters averaged more than 10 points per game.
  • Junior sharpshooter Eli Ziegler has a shot to become the next 1,000-point scorer. He averaged 10.3 points in 2015-16, putting him at 681 career tallies. The native of Littleton, Colo., has been the team’s top 3-point shooter over the past few seasons. He’s a career 42.3 percent shooter (160-for-378) from beyond the arc. His 70 3-point field goals this season were a career high.
  • Of the 11 players who saw action in 20 or more games in 2015-16, eight have eligibility remaining. That list includes starters in Folkerts and Ziegler and key figures off the bench such as sophomore Rudy Knight, junior Max Wegener and sophomore Nathan Toenjes. Knight will have a shot to take over the point guard role. The native of Katy, Texas, has shown flashes of brilliance. He racked up a career high 22 points in helping the Bulldogs rally back to force overtime in the Dec. 18 loss at Dordt.
  • Defensive improvement could be the key to taking another step forward next season. In conference games only, the Bulldogs allowed 86.0 points per game and GPAC opponents shot a lofty percentage of 39.4 from 3-point range. In its 10 conference regular-season losses, Concordia surrendered an average of 90.2 points per contest. On the flip side, the Bulldogs actually led the GPAC in field goal percentage defense (.433) when factoring in all games.

Wrestling

  • Sixth-ranked Concordia has been idle since it won the NAIA North Qualifier behind four individual champions on Feb. 20. Fourth-year head coach Dana Vote’s squad will complete the 2015-16 season at this weekend’s NAIA national championships, where 10 Bulldogs will converge among the field of 240 wrestlers. The 10 national qualifiers equals a program record produced by last year’s squad. For more information on Bulldog wrestling, click HERE.
  • Last week the GPAC released its all-conference wrestling honors. For the third-straight year, a Concordia competitor earned the distinction of GPAC wrestler of the year. This year’s winner, Andrew Schulte, joins Emilio Rivera (2013-14) and Enrique Barajas (2014-15) as Bulldogs to collect the honor. Like Barajas and Rivera, Schulte blazed through conference opponents with an undefeated GPAC mark. Schulte, a 2015 All-American, carries an overall record of 35-6 into the national tournament. He’s the NAIA’s No. 2-ranked 141-pounder.
  • Schulte was one of nine Bulldog wrestlers to receive all-conference recognition. In addition, Vote garnered GPAC coach of the year accolades for the second year in a row. Vote has overseen a program transformation, building Concordia up from the bottom of the conference and region to the top. The Bulldogs own an active GPAC dual win streak of 14 courtesy of two-straight undefeated conference seasons.
  • Joining Schulte on the conference’s first team were Matt Atwood (184), Ceron Francisco (285) and Jr Lule (157) – all champions at the NAIA North Qualifier. Second team honors went to Tomy Bailey (165), Foster Bunce (149) and Ken Burkhardt Jr. (197). Dmitri Smith (125) received honorable mention. Lule was also a strong contender for GPAC wrestler of the year. Lule is 34-7 overall and possesses a 12-match win streak.
  • Under Vote, Concordia has had five individuals reach the medal stand at the national championships. Austin Mogg, who followed Vote from Buena Vista University, was the first to do so. He placed fifth in the 125-pound weight class at the 2014 NAIA national championships. Then last season, Concordia set a new program record with four All-Americans as Burkhardt Jr., Kodie Cole, Francisco and Schulte each placed among the top eight in their brackets. In terms of team scoring, Concordia went from 22nd in 2014 to 12th in 2015. Its current national ranking of sixth equals the highest in school history.
  • Eight Bulldogs automatically qualified for the national championships via top-three finishes at the NAIA North Qualifier. On Feb. 22 Bailey and Travian Cooke (174) were announced as at-large national qualifiers by the NAIA. Those additions to the field give Concordia a national qualifier at each weight class. Of them, Burkhardt Jr. is the most experienced at the NAIA national championships after having qualified his freshman and sophomore years. For more on the qualifiers, click HERE.
  • Vote’s roster sports 13 individuals with 10 or more wins on the season. Eight Bulldogs have eclipsed the 20-win mark. The latest to do so were Cooke and Smith. Austin Starkey cracked double-digit wins thanks to his fourth-place finish at the NAIA North Qualifier.
    • Andrew Schulte (141/149) – 35-6
    • Jr Lule (157) – 34-7
    • Tommy Bailey (165) – 26-18
    • Ceron Francisco (285) – 28-13
    • Ken Burkhardt Jr. (197) – 27-11
    • Matt Atwood (184) – 24-5
    • Travian Cooke (174) – 20-14
    • Dmitri Smith (125) – 20-17
    • Foster Bunce (141/149) – 14-9
    • Daniel Melcher (149) – 13-8
    • Kodie Cole (133) – 13-10
    • Alexander Reimers (197) – 11-11
    • Austin Starkey (157/164/174) – 11-15
  • The NAIA National Championships on Friday and Saturday (March 4-5) are all that remain on the 2015-16 schedule. The grand event is set to be held at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka, Kan., for the third-straight year. For more information on the national championships, click HERE.

Track and Field

  • Head coach Kregg Einspahr’s No. 4 nationally-ranked squads had the weekend off following the GPAC indoor championships that took place on Feb. 19-20. The Concordia women placed second and the men third at the conference meet. The Bulldogs are now set to take a group of 31 athletes to this week’s NAIA indoor national championships. For more on Concordia track and field, click HERE.
  • A total of 39 Bulldogs were officially named 2016 GPAC indoor all-conference honorees last week. Prestigious awards continue to pour in for senior Kim Wood, who won four GPAC titles and broke three meet records on Feb. 20. That performance netted the native of Greeley, Neb., Hauff Mid-America Sports/GPAC Indoor Track and Field Outstanding Athlete of the Year and GPAC Most Outstanding Performance of the Meet accolades. In addition, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) recognized Wood as its female Midwest regional Track Athlete of the Year. That award came a day after she garnered the NAIA National Track Athlete of the Week award for the second time this season.
  • Wood was one of three Bulldogs to earn honors from the USTFCCCA, which tabbed junior Zach Lurz as the Midwest men’s Field Athlete of the Year and Ed McLaughlin as the men’s and women’s Midwest Assistant Coach of the Year. The honors were based solely on the 2016 indoor season. Lurz won the GPAC title in the shot put (new meet record), an event in which he currently ranks No. 1 nationally. He also sits second in the NAIA in the weight throw. He’s been mentored by McLaughlin, who has turned Concordia into the top throwing program in the NAIA. As part of the impressive GPAC meet, Concordia throwers went 1-2-5-7-8 in the men’s shot put, 1-2-4-5-6-8 in the men’s weight throw, 1-3-4 in the women’s shot put and 1-3-5-6 in the women’s weight throw.
  • Concordia’s sizeable group of national qualifiers includes a pair of defending indoor national champions in Lurz (shot put) and Josh Slechta (weight throw). Slechta will have to overcome his own teammate in national leader Cody Boellstorff (68’ 10 ½”) if he hopes to win another championship. Boellstorff, Lurz and Stephanie Coley each enter the national championships with NAIA-leading marks. Concordia’s 31 national-bound athletes have a combined 40 All-America honors. Lurz owns the most with seven to his credit. Ten of the 31 Bulldogs have multiple All-America claims. For more on the national qualifiers, click HERE.
  • At last year’s indoor national championships in Geneva, Ohio, the Concordia men placed fifth and the women 11th. Since 2000, the Bulldog men have recorded 13 top-25 national indoor finishes while the women have placed inside the top 25 on 11 occasions during that time frame. The Concordia men are the defending NAIA outdoor national champions.
  • Here’s a look at the 34 automatic national qualifying marks and seven ‘B’ standard marks produced during the 2016 indoor season by Concordia athletes. Seven Bulldogs posted automatic marks in more than one event: Coley, Lurz, CJ Muller, Kali Robb, Jose Rojas, Lucas Wiechman and Wood.
    • Men’s 4x400 – A, 3:21.54
    • Women’s 4x400 – A, 3:59.99
    • Men’s 4x800 – B, 7:59.94
    • Women’s 4x800 – A, 9:40.45
    • Trey Barnes – shot put (A, 54’ 3 ¾”)
    • Cody Boellstorff – weight throw (A, 68’ 10 ½”); shot put (A, 51’ 7”)
    • Allison Brooks – pole vault (A, 11’ 5”)
    • Kattie Cleveland – weight throw (A, 57’ 6 ½”)
    • Stephanie Coley – shot put (A, 48’ 1 ¾”); weight throw (A, 57’ 11 ¾”)
    • Alayna Daberkow – pentathlon (A, 3,116)
    • McKenzie Gravo – pole vault (A, 12’ 2 ¾”)
    • Liz King – weight throw (A, 53’ 8 ¼”)
    • Philip Kreutzer – weight throw (A, 59’ 2”); shot put (B, 50’ 7 ½”)
    • Samantha Liermann – shot put (A, 46’ 10”)
    • Zach Lurz – shot put (A, 60’ 1 ¼”); weight throw (A, 63’ 4 ¾”)
    • Sydney Meyer – weight throw (B, 52’ 2”)
    • Cynthia Mick – pole vault (A, 11’ 5”)
    • CJ Muller – 400 meter run (A, 49.04); 600 meter run (A, 1:20.71)
    • Johanna Ragland – shot put (B, 42’ 1 ¼”)
    • Kali Robb – shot put (A, 47’ 7 ¼”); weight throw (A, 62’ 1 ¾”)
    • Jose Rojas – shot put (A, 55’ 1 ½”); weight throw (A, 59’ 9 ½”)
    • Austin Schafer – pole vault (A, 15’ 5”)
    • Benjamin Schulteis – weight throw (A, 56’ 8 ¾”)
    • Katelyn Shoup – triple jump (B, 36’ 7”)
    • Emily Sievert – 5,000 meter run (A, 18:07.90); 3,000 meter run (B, 10:30.35)
    • Josh Slechta – weight throw (A, 58’ 10 ¼”)
    • Lucas Wiechman – pole vault (A, 16’ ¾”); heptathlon (A, 4,922); 60 meter hurdles (B, 8.38)
    • Kim Wood – 600 meter run (A, 1:33.15); 800 meter run (A, 2:11.03); 1,000 meter run (A, 2:55.95); one mile run (A, 4:52.01)
  • The 2016 indoor season will conclude at the NAIA National Championships, set to play out Thursday through Saturday (March 3-5) at David E. Walker Track at Gentry Field in Johnson City, Tenn. The complete field of national qualifiers were announced on Feb. 26. For more information on the championships, click HERE.

Baseball

  • Concordia spent a third-straight weekend in the state of Kansas while up against another opponent from the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. After falling 5-4 in the opener of the four-game series at Ottawa University (Feb. 27-28), the Bulldogs responded with an offensive explosion that resulted in three-straight lopsided wins via final scores of 15-8, 17-7 and 19-2. The hot finish to the weekend puts second-year head coach Ryan Dupic’s squad at 5-7 overall. To read recaps of recent action, click HERE.
  • The 51 runs scored over the past three contests are the most in a three-game stretch for Concordia since Dupic took over as head coach. The previous best was 48 put over three wins last March 31 – April 3. The Bulldogs actually hit the 20-run threshold three times in 2015 on their way to a school single-season record 289 runs scored in 44 games. The massively productive weekend actually has Concordia on pace to for more runs this season. It is now averaging 7.5 runs per game (20th most among all NAIA baseball teams).
  • The Bulldogs racked up 42 hits in the Feb. 28 doubleheader. In both ends of the twin bill, seven different players recorded multiple hits. The top four hitters in the lineup went a combined 20-for-39 (.512) with 17 RBIs and 12 runs scored in the latest doubleheader. On that day, the top four spots were held down by Alex Alstott (4-for-10), Taylor Bigandt (3-for-8), Christian Montero (6-for-11) and Kaleb Geiger (7-for-10). Geiger drilled his second homer of the season while adding a pair of doubles and seven RBIs on Feb. 28. Montero went 5-for-6 in the 17-7 game 1 victory.
  • Right-handed pitcher Mark Harris made his first career start as a Bulldog in the 15-8 win at Ottawa on Feb. 27. Harris surrendered seven runs, but all were unearned due to a sloppy defensive effort. Through 12.2 innings this season, the native of Tucson, Ariz., has been charged with just one earned run. He is the team co-leader with 13 strikeouts (Neil Ryan). In 39.2 career innings, Harris sports a 2.27 ERA with 40 punch outs.
  • Lefty reliever Josh Prater has extended his scoreless innings streak to 23.2 He last allowed a run in the first inning of a 6-4 win over Grace University on April 8, 2015. The native of Colorado Springs, Colo., has had five-straight scoreless appearances since that date. That run has included a seven-inning, 10-strikeout performance in a victory over a York College (April 14, 2015) and a nine-inning shutout of Morningside (April 21, 2015).
  • Statistically, right-hander Neil Ryan came through with the best outing of the weekend among Bulldog hurlers. At one point he retired 10 Braves hitters in a row. He worked 5.2 innings, allowing four hits, one walk and one run (earned) to go along with seven strikeouts. In 12 career games, Ryan sports a 6-3 record, a 2.95 ERA and 47 strikeouts over 61 innings.
  • Bigandt put together a solid 6-for-15 series at Ottawa. Included in that performance was a two-homer game in the Feb. 27 win over the Braves. It marked the first time a Bulldog hitter recorded multiple long balls in a game since Cam Gause hit two in a 14-13 win over Dakota Wesleyan on March 30, 2014. In that contest, Gause completed a rally back from a 13-5 deficit with a walk-off two-run homer. In 2016, Bigandt and Geiger have accounted for each of Concordia’s four homers.
  • After the impressive offensive weekend, five Bulldog regulars now sport batting averages above .300: Geiger (.364), Bigandt (.359), Ryan Fesmire (.345), Taylor Dudley (.313) and Alex Cargin (.308). Bigandt is the team leader with 11 RBIs. He also tops the Bulldogs with 21 total bases. Only two players have appeared in all 12 games: Alstott and Casey Berg.
  • Concordia’s 10-game Arizona swing begins on Saturday, March 5 with a doubleheader versus William Penn University (Iowa) (1-3). The Bulldogs are also slated to play March 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11 in Tucson. In 2015 Concordia went 8-1 on its spring break trip while winning its final six games in Tucson. The winning streak reached 10 when the Bulldogs returned home for a four-game sweep of Dakota State University (S.D.).

Women’s Basketball

  • For the first time since 2011, Concordia had to go on the road for the quarterfinals of the GPAC tournament. The result was a 76-69 loss at No. 12 Briar Cliff on Feb. 24 in what was the second meeting between the two teams in a five-day span. The defeat means that 10th-year head coach Drew Olson’s 17th-ranked squad must hope for an at-large bid to the national tournament. The NAIA will announce the 32-team field of national qualifiers by 5 p.m. CT on Wednesday (March 2). For more information on Bulldog women’s basketball, click HERE.
  • Despite last week’s GPAC postseason loss, Concordia appears to be in a good shape to snag one of the 10 at-large berths to the national tournament, which runs March 9-15 at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa. The Bulldogs have advanced to the national tournament in four-straight seasons and in seven of the past eight years. Olson’s seven national tournament appearances and 11 national tournament wins are program coaching standards. The 2014-15 Bulldogs were the first in school history to reach the national championship game.
  • Under Olson, Concordia has gone 12-8 in the GPAC tournament dating back to the 2006-07 season. The Bulldogs won GPAC postseason championships in 2012 and 2015. Concordia had won at least one conference tournament game in seven-straight years prior to last week’s loss. Before Olson’s arrival the Bulldogs captured GPAC tournament titles in 2004 and 2005.
  • Quinn Wragge is a lock to become the first freshman to lead the team in scoring since Concordia Athletic Hall of Famer Sarah Harrison did so in 2001-02. Wragge has taken off in the second half of her rookie season. On Dec. 9 her scoring average rested at 9.8. She’s bumped that figure up to 14.5 on the strength of seven 20-point games since that date. Her last four games have been particularly productive as she’s averaged 21.8 points and 11.5 rebounds. Wragge does it all for the Bulldogs. Not only does she lead the team in scoring, she also paces it in rebounding (6.5), steals (1.87) and blocks (0.61).
  • This marks the fifth-straight season that Concordia has lost no more than three home games (70-9 at home since the start of 2011-12). Over that stretch, the Bulldogs have produced home records of 13-2 (2015-16), 15-1 (2014-15), 12-2 (2013-14), 15-3 (2012-13) and 15-1 (2011-12). This season’s only home losses came at the hands of No. 1 Morningside and Doane. Five ranked teams have left Walz with losses in 2015-16: No. 4 Briar Cliff, No. 6 Dakota Wesleyan, No. 6 University of Jamestown (N.D.), No. 10 Hastings and No. 24 Mayville State University (N.D.).
  • In last week’s defeat, Concordia reached double digits in made 3-point field goals for the 16th time this season. The Bulldogs currently rank fifth among all NAIA Division II teams with an average of 9.7 triples per contest. Six different players have made more than 20 3-point field goals this season: Brenleigh Daum (62), Becky Mueller (53), Sydney Feller (43), Shelby Quinn (36), Laurel Krohn (27) and Aubri Bro (22). Of them Bro owns the best percentage. She’s shooting 47.8 percent from distance.
  • Feller, a sophomore from Papillion, Neb., made her first career start last week in the GPAC tournament as Daum rested. Olson has now used 10 different players to make up his starting lineups this season. Wragge is the only player who has started every game. Shelby Quinn possesses a consecutive games played streak of 89. She’s started 24 contests in 2015-16.
  • Concordia moved back four spots to No. 17 in last week’s national poll. Despite the drop, the Bulldogs have now appeared in 64-straight top 25 polls dating back to the 2011-12 preseason ranking. Olson’s squad has been rated as high as fourth this season after concluding the 2014-15 campaign at No. 2. Concordia held down the No. 1 ranking for the first four polls of the 2012-13 campaign.
  • Check back on Wednesday evening for coverage of the Bulldogs’ national tournament fate. To date, Concordia has made 14 appearances on the grand stage, each one coming since 1992. Olson is one of five Bulldog women’s basketball coaches all-time to guide teams to the national tournament.

Tennis

  • Second-year head coach Joel Reckewey’s programs were again in action once last week with both taking on Tabor College (Kan.) in nonconference action at the Abbott Sports Complex in Lincoln on Feb. 26. The Concordia men recorded a 5-4 win while the women fell by a score of 9-0. The Bulldog men have won three of four matches and are now 4-4 overall. Meanwhile, the women slipped to 1-7 overall. For more information on Concordia tennis: MEN | WOMEN.
  • While standout Willy Pardos fell, 6-3, 7-6, at the top of the singles lineup, the Bulldogs recovered for another tight victory by snaring wins at the Nos. 3, 4 and 5 singles spots. Concordia also topped the Blue Jays in two of three doubles bouts. It was the second-straight outing that the Bulldogs pulled out a 5-4 win over an opponent from the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.
  • At No. 1 doubles, Pardos and Javier Moreno teamed up for an 8-6 win over the combo of Illia Filanchuk and Angel Otondo. In the process, Pardos and Moreno evened their doubles record up at 4-4. That is the top doubles mark on the team. Pardos is also tied for the team singles wins lead. He and freshman Gabe Poling are both 5-3. Poling has played every match at the No. 5 slot.
  • Three Bulldogs have won two-straight singles matches: Patricio Esquivel, Moreno and Poling. Esquivel and Moreno are both 4-4 overall. As a team, Concordia is 21-27 in singles matches and 8-16 in doubles play.
  • On the other hand, the women lost by a 9-0 final for the fourth time this season. They have lost two-consecutive matches since their 8-1 win over Bethany College (Kan.) on Feb. 13. Freshman Katelinn Wurm again fell just short of a win at No. 2 singles, dropping a 6-4, 4-6, 10-6 decision to Celeste Worthy of Tabor, which played its season-opening match against the Bulldogs. In doubles competition, Concordia dropped 24 of 30 sets as the Blue Jays got off to a big start.
  • As a team, the Bulldog women are now 10-38 in singles play and 4-20 in doubles matches. Alison Ebel and Kayla Smock lead the team with two singles wins apiece.
  • Both Concordia teams will host Bethel College (Kan.) on Friday in another date with a KCAC foe. The matches will be season openers for the Threshers men’s and women’s tennis programs. The Bethel women went 16-5 overall in 2015 while the men were 7-10.