ORANGE CITY, Iowa – A thoroughly dominant performance in Orange City, Iowa, on Saturday (April 17) has kept the Concordia University Women’s Tennis team unbeaten in conference play. The Bulldogs swept all matches in a 7-0 head-to-head decision at Northwestern. While Concordia won most of the matchups handily, No. 4 singles came down to a third set.
Head Coach David DeSimone’s squad also defeated College of Saint Mary earlier in the week and has moved to 5-0 in the GPAC (8-5 overall).
“It was a good meet for the women’s team,” DeSimone said. “We came out with a lot of positive energy and played smart doubles. Claudia (Miranda Viera) got a quick win and the rest of the team followed her lead.”
In the drama that came about at No. 4 singles, Bulldog Katy Krejci shook off a defeat in the second set and triumphed, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2. In another fairly competitive match, Sofia Morales took care of Wynne Vandersall at No. 1, 6-4, 6-3. In more decisive matches, Concordia singles winners included Miranda Viera at No. 2, Tara Ferrel at No. 3, Ansley Gates at No. 5 and Kaitlin Seja at No. 6.
In the doubles play that opened the day, all three Bulldog pairings earned victories. The combos featured Miranda Viera and Morales at No. 1, Ferrel and Gates at No. 2 and Luisa Esquivel and Seja at No. 3. The closest contest of those three clashes occurred at No. 2, where Concordia won by a 6-3 score.
The Bulldogs have cleaned up in the GPAC by going 25-5 in singles and 10-5 in doubles so far in conference action. Four Concordia players have earned four or more GPAC singles wins: Miranda Viera (5-0), Esquivel (4-0), Gates (4-0) and Morales (4-1).
It will be senior day on Tuesday (April 20) when the Bulldogs host Doane (10-4, 3-0 GPAC) at 4:30 p.m. CT. The seniors that will be recognized are Gates, Miranda Viera and Seja. The Tigers are currently rated as the top team in the official GPAC rankings.