St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s tennis team concluded its 2013 season with a 5-1 loss at the hands of Carleton in the semifinals of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Women’s Tennis Playoffs on Saturday afternoon at the Swanson Tennis Center. The Knights captured the opening two victories in doubles play and would not look back on their way to victory. Gustavus finishes its season 13-8 overall (8-2 MIAC) while Carleton improves to 14-7 overall (9-1 MIAC) and advances to the MIAC Playoff Championship, which will take place in the Swanson Tennis Center at 7:00 p.m. Saturday night.
After falling at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles, the Gusties leaned on the senior duo of Heather Annis (Sr., Mapleton, Minn.) and Mallory Shellum (Sr., St. James, Minn.) to earn a much-needed point at No. 2. Annis and Shellum defeated the Carleton tandem of Grace Davis and Mikayla Becich by the score of 8-6 to bring the team score to 2-1.
The Gusties continued the momentum and came out strong in the singles competition. Laurel Krebsbach (So., North Oaks, Minn.) set the tone with a 6-3 win in her first set. Annis followed suit at No. 2 singles with a 6-4 win of her own in the opening frame. However, neither player could fend off a raging comeback from the Knights. Krebsbach could not hold off Bridget Doyle, who went on to take both the second and third sets by a score of 6-3 in a hard fought battle. Meanwhile, Annis lost the second set 6-0 before dropping the third frame 6-3 to Anne Lombardi.
A loss at No. 3 singles by Shellum prior to the two losses by Krebsbach and Annis served as the other loss for the Gusties in the final count. Shellum dropped her match by the score of 6-3, 6-1 to stamp the score as final at 5-1.
The Gusties finish their season with a record of 13-8 overall and 8-2 in the MIAC.