SEWARD, Neb. – Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Tennis will battle against Doane on Wednesday (April 16) for senior day. The Bulldogs will celebrate two seniors, Manuel Rodriguez and Grady Works. CUNE defeated Hastings (7-0) and dropped a close one to Midland (3-4).
Tuesday, April 15 vs. Doane (6-11, 1-4 GPAC), 4 p.m.
--Live Updates: @cunebulldogs X/Formerly Twitter | Location: Bulldog Tennis Courts (Seward, Neb.)
Concordia has amassed an 11-7 overall record and a 3-2 GPAC showing with only one match to go versus Doane. The Dawgs looked dominant against their in-state rival Hastings and Joseph Melzer at No. 5, clinched the team win with a 6-1, 6-1 straight set victory over his opponent. Melzer, a Gold Coast, Australia, native has won five matches this year and is 4-1 in the No. 5 slot. Ben Chisholm kept it going to win his seventh match at No. 3, and Velders was an early winner as well. No. 1 Hugo Fuentes, No. 4 Grady Works and No. 6 Michael Bedrosian to victories in the shutout.
Chisholm and Santiago Abadia (No. 2s) won in doubles (6-1), but the others couldn’t find success against the Warriors. Chisholm continued to have a great week going 4-0 in his combined doubles and singles matches against his opponents. Works defeated Andrew Hammer and Michael Bedrosian won off a retired Daniel Liebig to take three points.
As a team, the Dawgs are 68-39 in singles and 36-18 in doubles play. Nick Velders (16), Works (11) and Ben Chisholm (10) lead the team with individual wins. Abadia (14), Chisholm (13) and Fuentes (12) are pacing the side in doubles wins.
Nick Velders is one triumph away from taking the single season program record for singles wins (17) as he has totaled 16 wins through 18 matches. The current record holders, along with Velders, are Jeremy Jank (2009-10) and Gabe Pohling (2016-17). With one bout upcoming, Velders will have a chance to become the lone record holder.
Santiago Abadia has posted 14 wins in doubles this season and has the ability to seize a program record for doubles wins. Tim Marshall and Glen Gutz (1992-93) punched out 14 wins and have held the highest in doubles wins ever since. Abadia has mainly teamed up with newcomer Ben Chisholm to gather 13 wins (13-3) and has one win with Manuel Rodriguez as his partner.
Rodriguez has posted a 32-26 record in his singles career and a 20-23 doubles showing. With the majority of his matches at No. 4 singles, the Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, native went 6-0 as a freshman and won 14 singles in his second year. Works, only two years through his eligibility, has a 14-16 singles record with 11 wins coming in his current season. The Lincoln Southwest product has a 14-13 doubles showing in his two years as a Bulldog.
Opponents
Doane has a 6-11 overall record and a 1-4 GPAC showing. The Tigers defeated Hastings in a blanking (7-0) and proved strong against Nebraska Wesleyan (4-3). Federico Infante and Jose Purizaca have tallied a team high 13 wins apiece and No. 1 Esteban Gutierrez has a 12-12 record.
Up next
Concordia will have to see how things play out with the rest of the conference standings, but it has guaranteed a spot in the GPAC tournament. The last GPAC match is on Friday (April 18).