SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia Women’s Tennis team is set to host Northwestern on Friday (Apr. 5) in Seward. Ranked closely in the conference, the Bulldogs will need to bring their A-game against the Red Raiders at the Bulldog Tennis Courts. The tennis squad fell to Morningside in Iowa on Mar. 22, as Concordia has had some much needed rest in between. Head Coach Lisa Hart’s group is 6-6 overall and 1-2 in conference play.
This Week
Friday, April 5 vs Northwestern (7-5, 0-1 GPAC), 4:30 p.m.
--Location: Bulldog Tennis Courts (Seward, Neb.)
By the numbers
· The current GPAC rankings have placed Concordia in third with only three total matches played in the conference so far. The two in front (Morningside and Midland) have given the Bulldogs their only conference losses, making this Friday an opportunity for the Dawgs. Finishing fourth last season, the team will look to get back on track against the Red Raiders who are currently ranked fourth in the conference.
· CUNE hit the road to face the top-ranked GPAC team in Morningside and fell to the Mustangs (1-6) in Sioux City, Iowa. Alexa Richert and Emily Clotfelter took the first set to extra play pushing the tightly contested battle to extras as the Bulldog won out (7-6). That would prove to be a back breaking set for her competitor as she continued to easy second set win (6-0). The Campbell County product collected her fifth win on the season, moving her singles record to .500 (5-5) in her freshman campaign.
· The Bulldog blue and white have bested 34 individual singles matches and 14 doubles through 12 duals. Lopez-Pagan (seven) and Molano (seven) have collected the most triumphs in singles, with Richert (five) not far behind. Molano, the sophomore out of Bogotá, Colombia, has been undefeated (4-0) at the No. 2 slot and .500 (3-3) at No. 1. The pair, Lopez-Pagan and Molano, have the most wins as a duo (four) plus Derman and Gottberg are unbeaten (2-0) in the couple of times they have been put together.
· The Red Raiders have only competed in one conference match against Morningside, falling in a shutout (0-7). With a 7-5 overall record, Northwestern has won two out of its last three versus Grand View University (Iowa), 5-2, and Central College (Iowa), 5-4. Olya Furmanova has an 8-3 overall record in singles and is undefeated (2-0) at No. 1.
Next week
Concordia at Doane is the only match on the docket next week. The Dawgs will travel to Crete, Neb. to face the Tigers in conference play.