CEDAR FALLS, MINN. – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s tennis team once again found itself facing the stiffest of competition and was defeated 7-0 by Division I University of Northern Iowa on Sunday.
“We had some great matches against another very good team in Northern Iowa,” said head coach Jon Carlson. “The level of competition that D-I schools like that give to us is an invaluable experience and one that will only continue to help us as we go forward.”
Northern Iowa took straight set wins at each singles position and also swept the three doubles matches. Michaela Schulz (So., Elk River, Minn.) had the most competitive match for Gustavus in terms of scoring, as she fell to the Panthers’ Erica Medlin 7-5, 6-2 at No. 1 singles.
“UNI is very, very good,” said Carlson. “I don’t think any coach is supposed to be pleased with an 0-7 loss, but I thought we played well and were able to take a lot away from the match.”
DULUTH, MINN. – Gustavus also sent a squad to play matches against Division II opponents University of Minnesota, Crookston and University of Minnesota, Duluth on Sunday. The Gusties earned their first victory of the season in a 7-2 win over UM-Crookston in their first match, but suffered a 6-3 setback to UM-Duluth later that afternoon.
“Our two matches against Crookston and Duluth were also great experiences for our team,” said Carlson. “Depth is something that’s really important and we had some players that are going to play big roles for us this season get some outstanding competition against those two teams.”
Against UM-Crookston, Gustavus picked up two-of-three doubles matches before earning victories at five-of-six singles positions. The tandems of Ally Baker (Fy., Rosemount, Minn.)/Lauren Ihle (Fy., Woodbury, Minn.) and Kaity Johnson (Jr., Litchfield, Minn.)/Maggie Nelson (So., St. Peter, Minn.) earned 8-2 and 8-0 wins at No. 2 and 3 doubles, respectively. In singles, Taylor Shortly (Fy., Lindstrom, Minn.), Cal Carlson (So., St. Peter, Minn.), Sofia Huitron (Jr., Cancun, Mexico), Ihle and Johnson each earned straight set victories at Nos. 2-5.
In its match with UM-Duluth, Gustavus picked its lone doubles victory at the first position where Carlson and Shortly teamed up to take an 8-1 win over the Bulldogs’ Alyssa Brunelli and Kara Saemann. In singles, the Gusties also found success at the top positions, as Baker earned a 6-3, 6-1 win over Brunelli at No. 1 and Shortly took home a 6-2, 6-1 win over Saemann at No. 2. Carlson nearly came through with a hard-fought win at No. 3, but eventually fell 3-6, 6-4 (8-10) to Shelby Benkofske.
“The amount of learning that happened up there on Sunday was exponential and something you just can’t get in practice,” said Carlson. “We took a loss, but also got our first win and really played well in both matches. We are definitely a better team than we were before we left which is always the goal.”
Gustavus (1-6) will be back in action on Saturday when it will play its first MIAC matches of the season at Swanson Tennis Center. The Gusties will face Bethel University at 8:30 a.m. before taking on Macalester College at 2 p.m.
University of Northern Iowa 7, Gustavus 0
Gustavus 7, University of Minnesota, Crookston 2 | University of Minnesota, Duluth 6, Gustavus 3