SEWARD, Neb. – Concordia hosted another tennis dual on Sunday (Mar. 3), going through their third in four days, this time against Iowa Central Community College. The Bulldogs clamped down on the Tritons, with Alana Lopez-Pagan clinching the team triumph, 4-3. With the singles win, the Forney, Texas product is on a three match win streak and puts CUNE at 5-4 on the year.
Head Coach Lisa Hart spoke about the lineup for Iowa Central and how the women continue to progress.
“Very proud of how we competed today throughout the lineup. They were short handed but the players they had on the court are extremely talented. Our players have been working hard and have made huge strides so far this season. It is very nice to see it pay off today.”
With Iowa Central down two players, Concordia needed one set to take the doubles point. No. 2s Tessa Blough and Chakira Derman were able to get four games on Im Garba and Ayawavi Vania Dotse but fell short, 4-6. No. 1s Mariana Molano and Lopez-Pagan did just that, taking Adjowa Sika Geli and Ayawavi Valentine Talaki, 6-4.
Lopez-Pagan faced Ima Garba, easily defeating her in straight sets (6-1, 6-0).
No. 1 Molano and No. 3 Tessa Blough had to go to third set tiebreakers to score the match final. Molano took on Ayawavi Vania Dotse as the two went back and forth in the final tiebreak, but the Tritons finished with a win (7-5, 1-6, 7-10). Blough found herself up (7-6) as well after the first frame, but couldn’t regain control and lost 5-7, 10-12 in the final scores.
The last Bulldog that competed in singles was Derman (No. 2).
Iowa Central moves up to 3-3, showing a great level of tennis for any level of college. The Tritons will continue to have success and will face Grand View University (Iowa) on Wednesday.
Concordia (5-4) is set to play Mount Marty (2-2) in Lincoln, Neb. at the Woods Tennis Center on Tuesday (Mar. 5). First toss is set for 11 a.m. CT.