2017-18 Stories of the Year (No. 4): Tennis programs continue NACC dominance

MEQUON, Wis. – The 2017-18 athletic year was another successful one for the Concordia Wisconsin Athletic Department. The Falcons won and contended for conference championships in many sports and put together an impressive list of great achievements. As in years past, the Department of Athletic Communications tries to sort through all the great moments and give you, the fans, top stories from the past year.

The list of stories was compiled by the Department of Athletic Communications and, like all lists, is subject to debate. The top stories will be revealed over the next three weeks, with a story being released on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The top story will be released on June 21.

Story No. 4

Tennis programs continue NACC dominance

The Concordia University Wisconsin Men’s and Women’s Tennis programs have been on quite a roll. The Falcons continued rolling in 2017-18, each program going unbeaten through the NACC and each winning another NACC Tournament Championship.

The NACC dominance started in the fall as the as the Women’s Team won its third straight NACC Regular Season Championship. In each of those titles, the Falcons went undefeated, this season posting a 9-0 mark in NACC play.

The Women’s program was well-represented in the All-NACC awards and rightfully so after extending its NACC match winning streak to 28. Ashely Solberg collected Player of the Year honors while head coach Steve Anschutz was named Coach of the Year in the conference. The Falcons had four players (Solberg, Elizabeth Carroll, Bailey Kelly, and Hannah Tresedder) named to the All-NACC singles team, while the pairings of Solberg and Kelly, along with Carroll and Tresedder were named to the All-NACC doubles team.

In the spring, the Falcons Men’s team began its quest for a second-straight NACC Regular Season Title, looking to not share the crown after doing so in 2017. CUW did just that, posting a perfect 8-0 league record.

Anschutz was again honored as Coach of the Year while rookie Nolan Rademacher was named Freshman of the Year in the league. Five players (Rademacher, Gabe Binversie, Brad Guendel, Peter Kloda, and Nathan Raskin) earned All-Singles team honors and three doubles teams (Binversie and Cole Werning, Guendel and Rademacher, and Kloda and Raskin) landed All-Doubles recognition.

On Sunday, May 6 the Falcons competed at the NACC Tournament and each program gained another tournament title. For the women’s team, it was a third-straight, while the men captured the NACC Tournament crown for a second-straight season.

Both programs went on to the NCAA Tournament where the Men’s program made history for the NACC. CUW dropped a 5-2 decision against Grinnell, but the Falcons became the first NACC program to score points in the NCAA Tournament. Guendel and Rademacher won the No. 1 doubles match and Rademacher also posted a victory at No. 1 singles.

2017-18 was another dominant year for the Falcons Tennis programs and both will look to continue this stretch next season.

2017-18 Stories of the Year
HM: Individual athletes honored as the best
No. 5: Men’s Soccer back to the top of the NACC
No. 4: Tennis programs continue NACC dominance
No. 3: June 14
No. 2: June 19
No. 1: June 21