SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus College men’s and women’s tennis teams completed their fall seasons last week, with both squads turning in noteworthy results. Each team will resume competition with their main conference schedules in February.
MEN:
The men’s team played in two tournaments during the fall season, including the Drake Fall Invitational in Des Moines, Iowa and the USTA/ITA Midwest Championships in St. Peter.
At Drake, the Gusties faced all Division I competition, including opposition from Drake University, the University of North Dakota, the University of Nebraska-Omaha, and Creighton University. Sophomores Mohanad Alhouni (Tripoli, Libya) and Zach Ekstein (Eagan, Minn.) highlighted the Gusties’ trip to the Hawkeye State, as each won their respective singles divisions, with Alhouni winning the Flight A bracket and Ekstein taking the Flight B championship. The doubles pairs of Alhouni/Andres Saenz (Jr., Cancun, Mexico) and Ekstein/Tommy Entwistle (So., Sioux Falls, S.D.) also shone, as each won three-of-four matches in the Flight A and B doubles draws, respectively.
In the USTA/ITA Midwest Championhips, Gustavus welcomed more than 200 players from 30 of the top Division III teams from the region to St. Peter. Alhouni and Ekstein led the way for the Gusties in singles, as they competed against one another in one of the tournament’s semifinals. Alhouni came away with the win in 6-2, 6-4 fashion, and went on to be crowned tournament champion after defeating Coe’s Brady Anderson in the finals by a 6-2, 6-2 score. Alhouni/Saenz led the Gustavus doubles charge by appearing in the draw’s final, before falling in an epically close match to Jake Humphries/Michael Tries of UW-Whitewater by a final score of 5-7, 6-3, (10-12). Ekstein/Entwistle also turned heads by advancing to the semifinals before falling to Humphries/Tries.
Former coach Steve Wilkinson was also honored this past fall, as the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) recently named its College Coach-of-the-Year Award the “Steve Wilkinson Collegiate Coach of the Year Award,” after the late longtime Gustie men’s tennis coach.
WOMEN:
The women’s team played in five total tournaments over three weekends in its fall season, as it sent two separate squads to the University of Northern Iowa Invite and Augustana College Invite on Sept. 19-20, competed in the USTA/ITA Midwest Championships in St. Peter on Sept. 25-27, and sent two separate teams to the Creighton Invite and Rapid City Invite on Oct. 3-4.
Similar to the men’s team, the Gusties faced all Division I competition at Northern Iowa, including opponents from the University of Northern Iowa, Drake, and Upper Iowa University. The doubles team of Michaela Schulz (Jr., Elk River, Minn.)/Ally Baker (So., Rosemount, Minn.) earned two victories in the Flight A doubles draw, while Lilly Hartman (Fy., Cedar Rapids, Iowa) took home two wins in the Flight B singles competition.
At the Augustana Invite, Sid Dirks (Sr., St. Peter, Minn.) and Katie Aney (So., Rochester, Minn.) took third place in the Flight A and B singles draws, respectively, while Taylor Shortly (So., Lindstrom, Minn.) and Cal Carlson (Jr., St. Peter, Minn.) earned the consolation titles in the Flight B and C singles draws, respectively. In doubles, the pairs of Dirks/Aney and Sheila Sullivan (Fy., St. Paul, Minn.)/Ally Thorsen (Fy., Eden Prairie) took home third place honors in the Flight A and C draws, respectively.
Like the men’s team, Gustavus welcomed more than 200 players from 26 of the top Division III teams from the region to St. Peter for the USTA/ITA Midwest Championships. Schulz led the way for Gustavus, as she earned a place in the singles tournament’s semifinals for the second consecutive year. The Elk River native began her tournament with four straight set victories to earn a place in the final four where she was matched up with the tournament’s No. 1 seed, Megan Humphreys of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. In a match that Coach Jon Carlson called, ‘one of the most entertaining I’ve seen in a long time at the Division III level,’ Schulz came up just short in a 6-2, 6-7 (5), 1-6 loss to the eventual tournament champion and winner of the past three Midwest Regional Singles Championships.
At the Creighton Invite, Gustavus once again faced all Division I competition, this time facing teams from the University of South Dakota, Creighton University, the University of North Dakota, and the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Briana Hartmann (Fy., Owatonna, Minn.) won two matches in the Flight C round robin draw to lead the Gusties in singles. In doubles, the team of Hartmann/Dirks won all three of their matches in the Flight B doubles draw to lead the Black and Gold, while Carlson/Caitlin Steffen (Fy., Baxter, Minn.) won two matches in the Flight C doubles draw.