Madison, Wis. – The Gustavus women’s tennis team participated in the Midwest Invitational this past weekend. The Gusties fell in all three matches, losing to the University of Chicago (9-0) and UW-Whitewater (6-3) on Friday, followed by a loss to Denison University (6-3) on Saturday. With the losses, Gustavus falls to 5-6 on the season.
After falling in all three doubles matches, the Gusties lost the remaining six singles matches in straight sets to No. 6 Chicago in a 9-0 loss on Friday evening. The Maroons went on to claim their fifth straight Midwest Invitational crown after going a perfect 3-0 over the weekend.
The Gusties then found themselves in a back-and-forth battle later in the evening on Friday when they took on the Warhawks of UW-Whitewater. After the Warhawks captured a point at No. 2 doubles, the Gustie duo of Laurel Krebsbach (So., North Oaks, Minn.) and Annie Mahoney (So., Duluth, Minn.) came back to even the count at 1-1 with a win at No. 1 doubles (8-3). UW-Whitewater responded with an 8-4 win at No. 3 doubles to take a 2-1 lead heading into singles play.
The Warhawks came out with a strong start in the singles competition, capturing the first two matches to extend their lead to 4-1, but Krebsbach kept the Gusties alive with a win at No. 1 singles in straight sets (6-3, 6-4). However, Sidney Dirks (Fy., St. Peter, Minn.) would be the only other Gustie to record a point with a win at No. 5 singles. After falling behind in the first set with a loss in the tiebreaker, Dirks came back to take the next two sets in convincing fashion with wins by the scores of 6-3 and 6-0. Dirks’ win at the No. 5 position narrowed the final score to 6-3.
Gustavus capped off the weekend with a 6-3 loss to Denison on Saturday afternoon. After falling behind 2-0 through the first two doubles matches, the tandem of Mallory Shellum (Sr., St. James, Minn.) and Heather Annis (Sr., Mapleton, Minn.) notched a point at the No. 2 doubles position with a dramatic 9-7 win to cut the deficit to 2-1. Shellum (6-2, 6-4) and Sidney Dirks (6-2, 6-4) both recorded points in the singles competition for the Gusties, but it was too little too late as the Big Red proceeded on to the 6-3 victory.
Gustavus will next take back to the court on Saturday, April 13th when it hosts Saint Mary’s at 11:00 a.m. and Bethel at 3:00 p.m. at the Swanson Tennis Center.