Worth The Wait

MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/27/18)---Concordia head coach Joseph Murrey has waited a full year for this group of players to gain the college experience necessary to finish off teams late in a match. A year ago the Cobbers went 5-11 and lost a handful of matches that could have gone either way at the end of the deciding set.

Concordia showed off its maturity in the season opener as they cruised to an 8-1 win at St. Scholastica – a team that beat the Cobbers 5-4 last year. The win breaks a six-match losing streak against the Saints – a stretch that dates back to 2011, the last time the Cobbers made the MIAC playoffs.

Concordia won all three doubles bouts handily and then claimed five straight-set singles wins to record     

The confidence was shown by senior Isaac Toivonen who rolled to a comfortable 6-1, 6-4 win in singles play and an 8-3 victory at No.1 doubles with teammate David Youngs. Toivonen and Youngs are coming off a season where they went 6-3 in league play and earned MIAC All-Conference honors. 

Last year Toivonen needed to go to the tie-breaker in the second set to beat the same opponent.

All five of the singles wins on Saturday were put up by returning starters for the Cobbers. Youngs won his match at No.2 singles 7-6 (5), 6-3.

Matthew Engum, David Schneck and Jared Saue all had little trouble spots in their bouts and won handily. Engum won 6-1, 6-1 at No.4 singles while Schneck posted a 6-2, 6-2 victory at No.5 singles. Saue followed Schneck by recording an identical 6-2, 6-2 win at No.6 singles.

Schneck and Erik Porter gave the Cobbers an early 2-0 lead when they won 8-3 at No.2 doubles. Engum and Carter Steffes then staked CC to a 3-0 advantage heading into singles play when they won 8-4 at No.3 doubles.

10 SPOT: Isaac Toivonen extended his win streak to 10 in Cobber team events. Toivonen won his final nine singles bouts last season in a streak that dates back to Mar. 19. Toivonen went 13-3 last year as the team's No.1 singles player.  

YEAR OF THE DOUBLES: Concordia only swept the three doubles bouts in four matches last season. Concordia went 4-0 in those contests. The Cobbers were 24-24 in doubles matches last season.

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will stay in the Duluth area and look to continue their early-season maturity when they play at Wis.-Superior on Sunday, Jan. 28 at 9 a.m. The Yellowjackets will be playing their first match of the program.

Concordia-M'head 8, St. Scholastica 1
Jan 27, 2018 at Duluth, Minn. (Arrowhead Tennis Center)

Singles competition
1. Isaac Toivonen (CC) def. Serhii Tykhonenko (CSS) 6-1, 6-4
2. Elliot Schneider (CSS) def. Erik Porter (CC) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
3. David Youngs (CC) def. Bryce Gadke (CSS) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
4. Matthew Engum (CC) def. Trace Combs (CSS) 6-1, 6-1
5. David Schneck (CC) def. Jack Kearney (CSS) 6-2, 6-2
6. Jared Saue (CC) def. Jason Kent (CSS) 6-2, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. Isaac Toivonen/David Youngs (CC) def. Serhii Tykhonenko/Elliot Schneider (CSS) 8-3
2. Erik Porter/David Schneck (CC) def. Bryce Gadke/Trace Combs (CSS) 8-3
3. Matthew Engum/Carter Steffes (CC) def. Caleb Thill/Connor Croft (CSS) 8-4