This is all new. The feeling of winning a GPAC tournament title. The qualification for the NAIA National Championships. A trip to Mobile, Alabama? Nope, never been there. It’s all finally starting to sink in for members of the Concordia University, Nebraska Women’s Tennis program. It’s been a week-and-a-half since the Bulldogs slayed the No. 1 seed and posed with the GPAC championship banner.
It took only two seasons into Head Coach Lisa Hart’s tenure for Concordia to break completely new ground. After qualifying for the GPAC tournament as the No. 3 seed, the Bulldogs proceeded on a revenge tour that will culminate with a trip down south.
“I’m so excited,” said junior Marina Molano. “We were waiting to accomplish this goal. We knew we could do it, but in the moment, it feels unreal. It’s really hard to get to the championship and to win it. It’s just amazing. To actually make it through is a different feeling. It’s so great.”
Back on April 26, Molano and her teammates took down conference regular season champion Morningside in the GPAC tournament finals. After three previous GPAC runner up claims (2008, 2011 and 2019), Concordia Women’s Tennis finally reached the mountaintop. Not only GPAC champions, the 2024-25 Bulldogs set a new program standard for dual wins in a single season with 17. Balance throughout the lineup has been a key for a squad with a 95-25 record in singles matches.
Concordia has progressed to this point while improving from match to match, in skill level and in confidence. When the Bulldogs did suffer a defeat, they learned from it. Take for example their two losses that occurred during the conference regular season slate. Concordia was clipped, 4-3, by both Morningside and Doane, the teams that ultimately earned the GPAC’s Nos. 1 and 2 seeds, respectively.
In postseason rematches, the Bulldogs flipped the doubles point in their favor and rode to momentous victories. As senior Tessa Blough of Cody, Wyo., said, “You can’t ask for anything better for your last year. I think it made it even more special because we lost to Morningside and Doane in the regular season. Going in as the third seed and knocking out those two teams to win the championship made it more special. It’s been awesome to celebrate with the girls. It just seemed unreal at first. It took a couple days to set in.”
Added sophomore Chakira Derman, “I’m really, really proud. It was a long journey with a lot of stress and a lot of practice. I knew we wanted it. Just seeing it come true and seeing it accomplished was wonderful.”
The upward trajectory of the Concordia tennis programs has become obvious to conference rivals. On the same day the women’s team claimed the GPAC banner, the men’s squad placed as the GPAC runner up behind conference tri-player of the year Nick Velders. On both sides, individual players have broken or equaled school records for singles and doubles wins in a single season. The two sides also boast a combined dual record of 31-12.
There has been success in previous seasons for Bulldog Tennis, but it could be argued that the overall prospects for both programs have never been more promising. Blough’s initial conversation with Hart upon her hiring had Blough believing from the beginning. It was hard not to raise an eyebrow at Hart’s credentials as someone with more than two decades of experience leading NCAA Division I programs.
The résumé gave Hart credibility, but it was about more than that. Said Blough, “I tell everyone that Coach Hart has changed this program. I told my parents the day that I talked to her on the phone for the first time, I think this coach is going to change the tennis program at Concordia. I was so happy. She’s supported us, and that’s all we can ask from a coach. She’s pushed us to work hard. She believed in us.”
As a third-year player in the program, the Bogotá, Colombia, native Molano knows firsthand how the program went from point A to point B. As a junior, Molano has gone 14-6 while playing at the No. 1 singles position. Molano was recruited by previous Head Coach Cam Long, who helped put together the current lineup.
“I think Coach Hart is a big part of our team’s success,” Molano said. “We also got new recruits that made the team better. We’ve improved a lot from my first year. The mindset we have is just different now. We are motivated and really want to win and succeed. It’s a huge difference.”
That mindset is part of what helped the Bulldogs find the belief they needed to win a GPAC championship. According to Molano, when Concordia toppled Doane in the conference semifinals, the team knew it was going to win the title. It’s not that they were overconfident, they just knew they had what it took to complete the title run.
In the title match versus league power Morningside, Chakira Derman earned wins at the No. 2 singles and doubles spots while doing her part. On the championship match day, nervous energy permeated the team, but the Bulldogs were ready. Said the Togo, Africa, native Derman, “I don’t know if I would say I was confident, but I was in the mindset where I wanted to win. It’s the final and I need to win this match. It doesn’t matter what happened before. I just have to focus on the present and do my job.”
As Blough offered, “I feel like the pressure was off of us and more on Morningside. Yeah, there were nerves, but not in a bad way. I think we were just so excited to have the opportunity to play for a championship. That just fueled us to fight.”
The depth of the lineup has proved critical all season long. Each of Concordia’s top five singles players have won at least 13 matches in 2024-25. Chakira (17-3) and her sister Ishane Derman (18-2) are neck-and-neck for the team lead in singles wins. The arrival of the Dermans has provided a major boost to the lineup while allowing everyone to settle into spots where they are able to succeed. Outside of Blough, Molano and the Dermans, Alana Lopez Pagan and Alexa Richert have also been lineup regulars while Nina Milic (clinched the team victory in the GPAC championship) has contributed heavily.
Hart shies away from the credit the players shower upon her. But clearly her impact has been felt (and not just in the form of matches won). When explaining how quickly things have come together, Hart says, “Support from everybody – our administration and staff members. Then total buy-in from the players. They’re willing to do anything that we ask them to do. They’re extremely coachable. Great attitudes. Just great kids. It’s a combination of all those things working together.”
The approach described by Hart will be carried into national tournament action on Tuesday (May 13), or the “unknown,” as Chakira Derman described it. The national championships maiden voyage for Concordia Women’s Tennis is destined for Mobile, Alabama, home to the Mobile Tennis Center, a facility outfitted with 60 courts. As the No. 22 seed (out of 24 teams) at the national tournament, the Bulldogs will attempt to embrace an underdog role and play with nothing to lose.
“I think it’s an amazing opportunity to be with the best of the best teams and athletes,” Molano said. “It’s great to experience that. I have one more year left and I’m just happy I get to experience that before I leave college.”
The national tournament run means extended “Tessa time” for the Bulldogs. No matter what happens in Mobile, the 2024-25 season will be one long remembered by Hart and company.
Says Hart, “I’m really proud of our team. They stayed committed and believed in the vision. We just have really good kids. I felt like they really deserved it. You can deserve a lot of things in life, and it just doesn’t work, but this kind of came together. It was really fun. We don’t want to lose Tessa. If we win, we get to have Tessa longer. That’s been fun to have extended Tessa time. Hopefully we can win some matches and stay there for a while.”