SEWARD, Neb. – It was a bounce-back individual performance from Mariana Molano as she again starred atop the singles lineup for Concordia University Women’s Tennis. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to pull the Bulldogs through in the team scoring. Visiting Doane came away from Seward with a 5-2 victory as the Tigers took two of three doubles and four of six singles decisions on Tuesday (April 4) evening.
Head Coach Cam Long’s squad has dropped back-to-back home matches while up against Morningside and Doane. Concordia stands at 8-7 overall (1-2 GPAC).
“We have to be mentally tough,” Long said. “We just didn’t have enough energy. That was the biggest disappointment. We were a little too sluggish. Doane wanted to play and they played well. That was the biggest difference.”
Based on the most recent GPAC ratings, this was a matchup between the league’s No. 3 (Doane) and No. 5 (Concordia) teams. The match swung the Tigers’ way in doubles when they won the nail-biter at the No. 1 spot, 7-6 (7-3), as Ava Macke and Liz van der Torre eked it out over Tessa Blough and Alana Lopez Pagan. The Bulldogs had the most lopsided triumph in doubles, 6-2, thanks to the work of Molano and Gabrielle Heiser at No. 3. Doane also won a tight contest at No. 2, 6-4, over Ella Dean and Tara Ferrel.
Molano had her singles win streak snapped this past Saturday versus Morningside, but she got back into the win column on Tuesday by toppling the Tigers’ Macke, 6-4, 6-3. The one other team point for Concordia was delivered by Ferrel as she outlasted her opponent in three sets, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, at No. 5. The rest of the Bulldog lineup featured Blough at No. 2, Lopez Pagan at No. 3, Dean at No. 4 and Brooke Hosick at No. 6.
Said Long, “It was good to see Mariana bounce back. She played through some pain and won both singles and doubles. It was good to see her battle through that. Tara did a nice job winning a third set. Overall, we’ll have better days ahead.”
Doane (7-11, 3-0 GPAC) remains unbeaten in league play having also defeated Mount Marty and Northwestern. The Tigers have won three series meeting in a row over Concordia.
The Bulldogs will take the Easter weekend off from competition before returning to action with a home match versus Grand View University (Iowa) on April 12. First serve is set for 11:30 a.m. CT from the Bulldog Tennis Courts. Concordia will attempt to avenge the 7-0 defeat it was dealt by the Vikings last season.