Molano shines at top of lineup as Dawgs roll over Sterling

By Jacob Knabel on Mar. 4, 2023 in Women's Tennis

STERLING, Kan. – It was a dominant outing on the road as Concordia University Women’s Tennis took care of business in Sterling, Kan., on Saturday (March 4) afternoon. The Bulldogs won all three doubles and all six singles matches while sweeping away the Warriors, 7-0. The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference member Sterling took just one set (in singles) the entire match.

Head Coach Cam Long’s squad has moved to 4-4 overall with wins coming in three of its last four matches.

Said Long, “It was a great day for us as a team. Everyone performed at a very high level. Sterling is a quality team, so to win as decisively as that shows what this group can do. It makes me excited for the next two months.”

A freshman from Bogotá, Colombia, Molano has played at the No. 1 singles spot in each of Concordia’s eight dual meets in 2022-23. In the latest outing, she breezed to a 6-0, 6-0, win over her counterpart from Sterling. Everything had already seemingly fallen into place after the Bulldogs gained the team point in doubles. The winning pairs were Tessa Blough and Alana Lopez Pagan at No. 1, Ella Dean and Tara Ferrel at No. 2 and Molano and Gabrielle Heiser at No. 3. The No. 2 spot was won by a 6-0 decision.

Sophomore Brooke Hosick also triumphed by a 6-0, 6-0, scoring in singles while holding down the No. 6 spot. The most competitive match occurred at No. 4 where Tara Ferrel managed to hold off Brooklyn Kuhn in a tiebreaker. The other victors for the Bulldogs were Blough at No. 2, Lopez Pagan at No. 3 and Dean at No. 5. Thus, there were five Concordia players who won in both doubles and singles.

On the other side, Sterling slipped to 1-4. Three days earlier, the Warriors dropped a 5-2 match in a visit to Hastings. The Bulldogs effectively avenged the 5-2 home loss it endured at the hands of Sterling last spring.

The Bulldogs will have most of the spring break week off before returning to action next Saturday (March 11) for a match with another two more KCAC foes in Kansas Wesleyan University and Tabor College. First serve at Kansas Wesleyan is slated for 11 a.m. CT from Salina, Kan., while the clash with Bethany is set for a 2:30 p.m. start in Lindsborg, Kan.