SEWARD, Neb. – One of the busiest stretches of the entire regular season is coming up this week as Concordia University Women’s Tennis is slated to play Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. The opponents will include Heart of America Athletic Conference foe Grand View University (Iowa) and then GPAC rivals Mount Marty and Midland. As part of the home matchup with Mount Marty on Thursday, the Bulldogs will recognize their lone senior, Tara Ferrel. Head Coach Cam Long’s squad is coming off a 5-2 loss last week to Doane and sits at 8-7 overall (1-2 GPAC).
This Week
Wednesday, April 12 vs. Grand View (7-4), 11:30 a.m.
--Location: Walz Fieldhouse (Seward, Neb.)
Senior Day – Thursday, April 13 vs. Mount Marty (0-7, 0-3 GPAC), 3:30 p.m.
--Location: Walz Fieldhouse (Seward, Neb.)
Saturday, April 15 at Midland (11-2, 2-0 GPAC), 12 p.m.
--Location: Bulldog Tennis Courts (Seward, Neb.)
By the numbers
· Concordia has dropped back-to-back GPAC matches after going 5-1 during the month of March. So far in April, the Bulldogs have been defeated by Morningside, 6-1, and Doane, 5-2. In the new GPAC ratings released on Monday, the Bulldogs checked in at No. 5 behind No. 1 Midland, No. 2 Morningside, No. 3 Doane and No. 4 College of Saint Mary. The teams ranked 6 through 8 are Hastings, Northwestern and Mount Marty, respectively. Currently, there are three GPAC squads without a loss in conference play: Doane (3-0), Midland (2-0) and Morningside (1-0).
· The loss at Doane on April 4 was the lone outing of last week. Long came away feeling like his team is capable of competing at a higher level. The team points were generated from Mariana Molano at No. 1 singles and Tara Ferrel at No. 5 singles. It wasn’t enough to rally back from the 1-0 deficit after doubles. Concordia came up a hair short of taking that doubles point as Molano and Gabrielle Heiser got the job done at No. 3 (6-2) and Tessa Blough and Alana Lopez Pagan were edged at No. 1, 7-6 (7-3). Rival Doane has won three-straight series meetings.
· Through 15 matches this season, the Bulldogs have combined to go 45-42 in singles and 27-17 in doubles play. Five Concordia players have recorded at least five singles wins: Molano (10-5), Ella Dean (5-4), Lopez Pagan (5-7), Blough (5-8) and Brooke Hosick (5-8). The duo of Dean and Heiser has been particularly effective in going 5-1 as a pair. Blough and Lopez Pagan have gone a solid 4-4 at the No. 1 doubles spot.
· Ferrel is the only senior on a youthful roster. A Lincoln North Star High School alum, Ferrel helped the 2021 team share the GPAC regular season championship with a 6-1 league mark. In her career, Ferrel has compiled 19 singles wins and 20 doubles victories. She was named Honorable Mention All-GPAC in singles in 2021.
· Last season, the Bulldogs went 1-2 against this week’s opponents. They were defeated by Grand View, 7-0, earned a win over Mount Marty, 7-0, and fell to Midland, 7-0. The Vikings sport a record of 7-4 in 2023 while the Warriors are 11-2 and receiving votes nationally. Meanwhile, Mount Marty continues to search for its first win this season.
Next week
The regular season will conclude next week with two road matches: at College of Saint Mary on April 19 and at Northwestern on April 22. The GPAC tournament will take place April 28-29.