[Tennis] Broncos slip past CSM tennis

OMAHA, Neb. – The Flames came close.

The College of Saint Mary tennis team almost knocked off Hastings College Tuesday, but fell just short. The Broncos won the Great Plains Athletic Conference contest 5-4.

"This was the farthest we've pushed Hastings – who has been a team at the top of the GPAC for some time now," CSM Coach Kim Gradoville said. "We put ourselves in position to win, but just came up short. I'm proud of how we competed."

Hastings took a 2-1 lead in doubles competition. CSM's lone doubles win came from Carly Bindl (JR/Papillion, Neb.) and Regi Zakrzewski (FR/Columbus, Neb.) at No. 3 doubles by a score of 8-0.

Then the Broncos got the three needed wins in singles to seal the victory. The Flames got victories from Allyah Rayyan (SR/Bellevue, Neb.) at No. 3 by scores of 6-2, 6-2; Marissa Newman (SO/Papillion, Neb.) at No. 5 by scores of 6-0, 6-1 and Zakrzewski at No. 6 by scores of 6-1, 6-0.

Merry McCully (FR/Bellevue, Neb.), who also won a match in the Doane University JV Tournament over the weekend, won the exhibition match 8-3.

"We hope to get a chance to play Hastings again in the conference tournament," Gradoville said. "We need to finish the rest of the conference season strong."

CSM is now 1-1 in GPAC standings and 4-6 overall. The Flames play host to Doane University at 4 p.m. Tuesday.