HUTCHINSON, Kan. – In its first dual match since back in September, the Concordia University Men’s Tennis team picked up another nonconference victory. Jack Kitson led the way with wins in both singles and doubles as the Bulldogs defeated Sterling College, 5-2, indoors in Hutchinson, Kan., on Saturday (Feb. 20). Concordia swept through doubles and took four of six singles matches.
Head Coach David DeSimone’s squad improved to 2-0 in the 2020-21 season. The Bulldogs also topped William Jewell College (Mo.) on Sept. 12.
Concordia was not far off from winning all nine matches. The only two losses came in singles tiebreakers at the Nos. 1 and 2 positions. Kitson’s stellar day included a 6-3, 6-1 win over Blake Gladson at the No. 3 singles spot. He also teamed up with Eduardo Rojas on a 6-0 decision in No. 1 doubles. In a dominant run through doubles, Jeremy Berryman and Joe Bindl won at No. 2, 6-3, and Isaac Howes and Juan Rabellino won at No. 3, 7-5.
Additional singles victories were claimed by Bindl at No. 4, 6-4, 6-0, by Rabellino at No. 5, 6-2, 6-3, and by Luke Johnson at No. 6, 6-3, 6-4. The results provide further evidence that many opponents will have a challenge stacking up with the Bulldogs throughout their lineup.
This marked the first dual match of the 2020-21 season for the Warriors, a member of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. Concordia and Sterling also played last February in Lincoln, Neb., where the Bulldogs took a 7-0 win.
The Bulldogs will be much closer to home next Saturday (Feb. 27) when they take on another KCAC opponent in Bethany College (Kan.). That match will begin at 3 p.m. CT and will be held inside Genesis Racquet Club in Lincoln. The two programs last met in 2019 with the result being a 5-4 Concordia win.