SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia Women’s Tennis team made the trek up to a wintery Sioux City, Iowa, and played indoors against a tough Morningside. The Mustangs jumped out to an early lead and defeated the Bulldogs, 1-6, in their second conference dual. Alexa Richert gathered the lone win in the No. 5 singles slot.
Concordia is 6-6 and 1-1 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC). Head Coach Lisa Hart commented on her team’s play against the Mustangs.
“Very impressed with how Alexa (Richert) competed today in singles. Credit to Morningside- their team competed hard today. We keep improving as a team and we are hoping we will get another chance at this team at our conference tournament at the end of April.”
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).
No. 2 Chakira Derman and No. 3 Alana Lopez-Pagan fell after giving their opponents trouble by taking six games in two sets. Derman challenged Jil Hellerforth (4-6, 2-6) and Lopez-Pagan was defeated by Delfina Stuzynska (2-6, 4-6) in straight sets.
Others starting in singles were Mariana Molano (No. 1), Tessa Blough (No. 4) and Gabrielle Heiser (No. 6).
In doubles, Derman and Blough (No. 2s) made the Mustangs put together a complete effort, but dropped the set, 4-6. Lopez-Pagan and Molano at No. 1s, continued in similar fashion, falling 3-6.
Morningside, picked to finish as conference champions, are 10-3 and 2-0 in the GPAC. The Mustangs will face Northwestern on Wednesday (Apr. 3) in Orange City.
Concordia (6-6, 1-1 GPAC) will have a break before taking on Northwestern (5-4, 0-0 GPAC) on Apr. 5 at the Bulldog Tennis Courts. First toss is set for 4:30 p.m. CT.