CRETE, Neb. – The 2026 Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Tennis team claimed the single season win record (16) and shut out Doane (7-0) on Thursday (April 16) night. Santiago Abadia clinched the fourth point and Nick Velders completed an undefeated 18-0 regular season in singles.
The Bulldogs are 16-4 overall and 4-1 in the conference. With the win, Concordia nabbed second place and the No. 2 seed in the GPAC tournament.
“I am proud of our guys,” Head Coach Lisa Hart commented. “They have committed themselves to being the best they can be, and it is nice to see the hard work pay off. Our depth was important today, and a lot of times depth can be the difference. We are looking forward to a little rest and then gearing up for our conference tournament at the end of next week!”
With a large lead, No. 6 Abadia (6-2, 6-2) put the nail in the coffin to seal the stamp as the best team in the program’s history. This 2026 squad passed the 2024-25 and the 2009-10 team’s wins (14). As the record stands, they will also grab the best winning percentage currently held by 2009-10 (70 percent).
No. 2 Velders finished first in singles continuing to run through his opponents like a freight train. The Tigers’ Diego Infante was no different as Velders won 6-1, 6-1. The senior out of Apeldoorn, Gelderland, The Netherlands, finished his regular season domination with an 18-0 spotless showing. Every single match was won in straight sets for the No. 13-ranked ITA singles athlete.
Ben Chisholm at No. 5, defeated Andre Hartman (6-3, 6-1) and is one win away from the 25th of his career (11-6 this season). No. 4 Leo Lopez battled in the first set and took one break from Elliot Dassel’s first toss to win 6-4. The freshman held serve in the second set (6-2) to win his third consecutive match in singles.
It's safe to say No. 3 Daniel Caballeros has found his groove in singles, winning his seventh match in a row. The Guatemalan needed a full-on comeback but showed his clutch gene to keep the team shutout in the triumph over Jaime Asiain Banzo (4-6, 6-3, 10-5).
With the toughest matchup of the day, No. 1 Hugo Fuentes went blow for blow with previously ITA rated Mats Vervloet and held his hands up in victory at the end of the bout (6-7 (6), 6-3, 10-8).
The doubles play started with No. 3s Chisholm and Ognjen Gajic taking the first paired set over Vervloet and Miles Mollring (6-4). No. 1s Lopez and Caballeros kept the quality team play rolling over Infante and Dassel (6-2). Velders and Fuentes at No. 2s, finished the final broom push defeating Asiain Banzo and Hartman (6-4).
Concordia (16-4, 4-1 GPAC) will be the No. 2 seed in the GPAC tournament but will have to wait and see who they will play in the second round. The top two seeds have a first-round bye. The postseason playoff is set to be played on April 24-25 at the Genesis Health Club in Omaha.