SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia University women’s tennis team will enter this coming spring with a high degree of confidence. In Wednesday’s battle with former GPAC member Nebraska Wesleyan, the Bulldogs swept through singles play and put together a dominant 8-1 victory.
Fourth-year head coach Joel Reckewey’s squad has won two of three matches this fall. Its other win came over Kansas Wesleyan University.
“Right now the women’s team is playing Bulldog tennis. We’ve come together as a team,” Reckewey said. “We have a lot of maturity from our veterans. What a great night of tennis playing underneath the lights. It was a fun experience for our team. I’m just really proud of the way the girls came together.”
Eight Bulldogs saw action as part of the team’s singles and doubles lineups. The only match Concordia relinquished all evening came at No. 1 doubles. It was all Bulldogs elsewhere. Singles wins were claimed by Annie Horn, Katelinn Wurm, Claudia Miranda Viera, Alison Ebel, Kirsten Wagner and Ansley Gates (in order of singles lineup).
Ebel played at the No. 1 spot for much of last season as a junior. In Wednesday’s outing, she breezed to a 6-1, 6-0, win at No. 4 singles after teaming with Allison Marshall on an 8-1 triumph at No. 2 doubles.
“It’s nice to play early in the school year because you get a bunch of experience,” Ebel said. “And we get to play against people that we play later in the season.
“A big factor is the freshmen that we have this year. We’ve grown so much together, which is really helpful. We communicate a lot better.”
The night ended with Miranda Viera fighting off Madi Henshaw in a tussle that went to a 10-point tiebreaker (3-6, 6-4, 10-6). In the five other singles matches, the Bulldogs dropped a total of only 17 games. Only one set resulted in a Prairie Wolf win.
Wurm and Lindee Schultz also combined on a win at No. 3 doubles, 8-4. Their work helped show Concordia’s improvement over last season when it squeaked out a 5-4 victory over Nebraska Wesleyan (1-6).
“I’m very impressed with the team already,” Reckewey said. “We went out for our first match of the season and captured a win over Kansas Wesleyan. We also had some good results in the GPAC individual tournament (hosted by Doane). I’m really proud of the team. It’s a good start to the season and I’m looking forward to things to come.”
The fall portion of the schedule is now complete for the Bulldogs. They will resume the 2017-18 this coming February. Eighteen regular-season matches remain on the slate. Included in that stretch will be a rematch with the Prairie Wolves.