The Gustavus women’s tennis team kept its hopes of a third straight Midwest Invitational title alive Saturday morning with a 5-3 semifinal win over the University of Chicago. The win moves the Gusties (19-3) into Saturday afternoon’s final where they will face DePauw University.
The Gusties and Maroons split the six singles matches, with Vindya Dayananda (over Lauren Hom 3-6, 6-4, 10-2 at No. 1 singles), Anuja Parikh (over Jaime Gaard 6-1, 6-7 (2), 10-4 at No. 3 singles) and Alice Williams (over Marla Menne 6-3, 6-2 at No. 5 singles) recording wins for Chicago. Gustavus’ Tara Houlihan (6-3, 6-0 over Ade Omodele-Lucien) at No. 2 singles and Lyndsey Palen (6-3, 6-2 over Michele Parad) at No. 4 singles picked up straight-set wins, while Jenni White needed three sets in a 6-4, 4-6, 12-10 win over Annie Miller at No. 6 singles.
Houlihan and Palen made it two wins apiece during the dual as they teamed up to record an 8-2 win over Dayananda and Omodele-Lucien at No. 1 doubles. Hom and Menne added an 8-0 win over Alice Williams and Parikh at No. 2 doubles for the match-deciding point. The No. 3 doubles match pitting Gustavus’ White and Darcy Haubrick against Chicago’s Parad and Miller was left unfinished as the dual had already been decided. The Gustavus duo was leading 7-2 at the time.
DePauw and Gustavus are meeting at the Midwest Invitational for the fourth straight year. The Tigers defeated Gustavus 6-3 to win the 2003 championship while Gustavus picked up a 9-0 quarterfinal win in 2004 and a 5-3 win in last year’s final.