Season Finale Is As Close As It Gets
FARGO, N.D. (4/19/24)---The final match of the 2024 season proved to be the most dramatic, closest finish in recent history for the Cobbers. Concordia and Hamline battled for four hours in a match that featured four super-set tie-breakers and three other matches that were decided by a total of seven games.
In the end, the Cobbers lost a pair of doubles matches and one singles bout in the super-set tie-breaker and fell 5-4 to the Pipers.
Concordia, who had to play without No.3 singles player Isaac Maddock who was out due to an illness, had a pair of first-year players record their only doubles win. Daniel Skrade and Max Ness came through with an 8-5 win at No.3 doubles.
Logan Sandberg and Kai Kringlie put up a big fight at No.1 singles but were edged 8-5 in a match that could have gone either way.
Sandberg lost in the super-set tie-breaker at No.1 singles in a match that featured stellar ground strokes and high intensity of play. Sandberg lost the first set 6-1, but then found his game and won 7-5 in the second. The match came down to the final few points in the super-set with the Piper player pulling away after the score was tied at 7-7 to record the 10-8 win.
Kringlie was one of three CC players to record singles wins – and all three came in the super-set tiebreaker. Kringlie lost the opener 7-5 at No.3 singles, but then responded by taking set No.2 by a 6-3 score and put the match away with a 10-6 victory in the tie-breaker.
Kai Pierce also lost the first set in his match at No.2 singles. He then rallied to win 6-4 in the second set and 10-6 in the tie-breaker. For Pierce, it was his seventh singles win of the year which tied him for the team lead. He now has 16 singles victories in his first two seasons at CC.
Freshman Hunter Rice was the third Cobber to win in the super-set. He opened with a 7-6 (4) win in the first set, stumbled in the second set by a score of 6-1, and then regained his composure to score a 10-7 victory in the super-set.
Hamline 5, Concordia-Moorhead 4
4/19/2024 at Fargo, N.D. (Courts Plus)
Singles competition
1. Rumeal Setts (HU) def. Logan Sandberg (CC) 6-1, 5-7, 10-8
2. Kai Pierce (CC) def. Isaac Hultberg (HU) 2-6, 6-4, 10-6
3. Kai Kringlie (CC) def. Tyler Rousslang (HU) 5-7, 6-3, 10-6
4. Hunter Rice (CC) def. Elijah Krause (HU) 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 10-7
5. Keegan Terrone (HU) def. Daniel Skrade (CC) 6-4, 6-1
6. Surprise Taylor (HU) def. Max Ness (CC) 6-3, 7-6 (9-7)
Doubles competition
1. Rumeal Setts/Isaac Hultberg (HU) def. Logan Sandberg/Kai Kringlie (CC) 8-5
2. Tyler Rousslang/Elijah Krause (HU) def. Kai Pierce/Hunter Rice (CC) 8-2
3. Daniel Skrade/Max Ness (CC) def. Surprise Taylor/Elden Lee (HU) 8-5