The Gustavus women’s tennis team claimed an impressive 5-0 win over St. Scholastica on Friday afternoon at the Swanson Tennis Center on the Gustavus campus. The #1 doubles team of Sierra Krebsbach and Sam Frank rallied from a 7-1 deficit to win 9-7 to give the Gusties a 3-0 lead after doubles play and the team then quickly closed out the match with singles wins by Marianne Barau at #5 and Erica Dobson at #6. Gustavus will play Wheaton on Saturday at noon for the regional title.
The Gusties got off to a quick start in doubles play as Erica Dobson and Ali O’Neal defeated Kelly Ross and Callee Conda 8-0 at the #2 position, and Marianne Barau and Megan Gaard defeated Natalie Urick and Paula Beckermann 8-4 at the #3 position. It appeared as though St. Scholastica was going to trim the lead to 2-1 as Katie Motley and Ploy Suthijindawong jumped out to a convincing 7-1 lead over Krebsbach and Frank, but the veteran Gustie duo battled back to win the next eight games and claim an important 9-7 win.
The 3-0 cushion gave the Gusties some breathing room in singles as they now only needed to win two of six singles matches to clinch the victory. The match, which was being played outdoors, was moved indoors shortly after singles play had started due to a light, steady rain. The lower half of the order quickly closed out the match as Marianne Barau defeated Angela Shields 6-0, 6-2 at #5 and Erica Dobson defeated Natalie Urick 6-3, 6-1 at #6.
Gustavus, which is the #1 seed will now face Wheaton, the #4 seed in the NCAA Regional Final on Saturday at noon at the Swanson Tennis Center. The winner will advance to the NCAA Team Finals, which will take place in Lawrenceville, Georgia on May 19-21.