The Doane men’s tennis team faced a busy mid-week schedule, securing a hard-fought road win against Midland University before returning home for a tough matchup against Concordia University.
The week’s highlight came on Tuesday, April 14, in Fremont, as the Tigers edged out Midland with a 4-3 victory. Doane started strong by earning the doubles point with victories at the top of the lineup. Freshman Mats Vervloet and junior Elliot Dassel secured a 7-5 win at number one doubles, while junior Andre Hartman and freshman Jaime Asiain Banzo followed with a 6-3 win at the number two spot. In singles play, Vervloet remained unbeaten on the day with a 6-4, 6-4 win at the number one position. Hartman added a crucial three-set victory at number four singles (6-2, 2-6, 6-4), and sophomore Tanner Adams clinched the team wins with a dominant 6-4, 6-1 performance at number six singles.
On Thursday, April 16, the Tigers returned to the Newburg Held Tennis Complex to host Concordia. While the team competed hard in several close matches, the Bulldogs took the victory with a 7-0 sweep. The most competitive battle of the day occurred at number one singles, where Vervloet took the opening set in a tiebreaker before ultimately falling in a tight third-set tiebreaker (7-6, 3-6, 9-11). Asiain Banzo also pushed his opponent to a tiebreaker in the third singles spot, but the Bulldogs managed to sweep the day’s results.
After the matches, Vervloet shared his thoughts on the team’s performance. “Beating Midland on the road was a big moment for us, especially with how well we played together in doubles to get that first point,” Vervloet said. “The match against Concordia was tough, but I think the energy was there. Even in the matches that went to tiebreakers, we showed that we can compete with the best teams in the conference. We’re going to use these next few days to get our bodies right and be ready for Omaha.”
The Tigers now look ahead to the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Tournament, which is set to begin on Thursday, April 23, in Omaha, Nebraska.
