ORANGE CITY, Iowa – The conference record remains perfect following a trip to Orange City, Iowa, for the Concordia University Men’s Tennis team. The Bulldogs swept their way through doubles and then won five of six singles matches in a 6-1 victory at Northwestern on Saturday (April 17). The Red Raiders avoided being shut out by taking a hotly contested match at No. 1 singles.
Head Coach David DeSimone’s squad returned to the action for the first time since a 7-0 win over Mount Marty a week earlier. Concordia has moved to 4-0 in the GPAC (8-4 overall).
“The men’s team played well today,” DeSimone said. “Doubles was solid 1 through 3 and we continued on in singles. Isaac (Howes) and Joe (Bindl) played excellent matches and Gregor (Lainer) lost a tough one against a good player. We are excited to continue building on all the good things taking place so far this season.”
The Bulldogs took the lead while sweeping doubles courtesy of the tandems of Lainer and Eduardo Rojas at No. 1 (6-4), Jeremiah Berryman and Luke Zoller at No. 2 (6-4) and Jack Kitson and Juan Rabellino at No. 3 (6-2).
As mentioned by DeSimone, Lainer was clipped in a hard fought battle at No. 1 singles. The rest of the Concordia lineup earned victories. The 2 through 6 spots were held down by Berryman (6-2, 6-2), Rojas (6-0, 6-4), Zoller (6-2, 6-4), Howes (6-2, 6-2) and Bindl (6-1, 6-2), respectively.
As a team, the Bulldogs are 20-4 in singles and 9-3 in doubles through four GPAC matches. Three Concordia players are 4-0 in GPAC singles competition: Bindl, Howes and Zoller (Berryman is 3-0). Bindl owns an impressive overall singles record of 10-1.
It will be senior day on Wednesday (April 21) when the Bulldogs host Doane (7-7, 1-0 GPAC) at 4:30 p.m. CT. The seniors that will be recognized are Zoller and Octavio Velazquez. The Tigers are currently rated as the No. 2 team in the official GPAC rankings.