SEWARD, Neb. – The final week of GPAC regular season play is upon the Concordia University Women’s Tennis team. Back-to-back road tests are on the docket as the Bulldogs prep to play at Doane on Tuesday and at Hastings on Wednesday. Concordia is hoping to rebound from losses last week at the hands of College of Saint Mary and Midland. Mathematically, Head Coach Cam Long’s squad could still finish as high as third place in the GPAC. The Bulldogs enter the week at 4-9 overall (2-3 GPAC).
This Week
Tuesday, April 12 at Doane (8-6, 3-1 GPAC), 4 p.m.
Wednesday, April 13 at Hastings (2-9, 1-2 GPAC), 11 a.m.
By the numbers
· Entering the week, Concordia is looking up in the GPAC standings at Midland (4-0), Morningside (5-1), Doane (3-1) and College of Saint Mary (2-1). The Bulldogs have played each of those opponents with the exception of Doane. The Warriors are the clear frontrunners in the conference after placing fourth in 2021. A year ago, Concordia shared the conference regular season title with Doane and Morningside.
· The Concordia women were led in the match against CSM (April 5) by Tara Ferrel, who emerged victorious at the No. 2 doubles and No. 3 singles positions. In addition, Sofia Morales moved to 4-0 in GPAC singles matches at the time with her breezy 6-0, 6-0, win at the top. However, the Flames came away with the team victory by taking two doubles matches and four singles decisions. The Bulldogs had entered the week having won back-to-back GPAC outings before colliding with CSM and Midland.
· Combined this season, Concordia has posted records of 29-49 in singles and 15-24 in doubles. Morales did lose her unblemished GPAC singles mark in the matchup with Midland. She fell by a score of 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) while nearly forcing a third set. Overall this season, Morales tops the Bulldogs with seven singles wins. The winningest doubles duo has been Brooke Hosick and Julia Phillips, who are 4-4. The team of Morales and Tessa Blough are 3-5 at the No. 1 spot. In her career, Morales is 10-2 in GPAC singles matches (all at No. 1).
· Concordia dropped a 6-1 decision at Doane last season and will have its hands full on Tuesday. The Tigers are 3-1 in the GPAC with wins over College of Saint Mary, Hastings and Northwestern. The one loss came by a 5-2 score at Morningside. Meanwhile, the Broncos are 1-2 in conference action with a win over Mount Marty and losses against Doane and College of Saint Mary. The Bulldogs defeated Hastings twice last season, including the matchup in the GPAC tournament quarterfinals.
Next week
The season will continue next week with a pair of nonconference matches – April 19 at Kansas Wesleyan University and April 21 versus Nebraska Wesleyan University. The home match on April 21 will serve as senior day.