SAINT PETER, MINN. – Following two weekends of traveling and competing against the likes of Division I schools Drake, North Dakota and Northern Iowa, the Gustavus Adolphus women’s tennis team returned home this past weekend and earned a pair of wins against familiar MIAC opponents Bethel University and Macalester College on Saturday at the Swanson Tennis Center. The Gusties defeated the Royals 8-1 and the Scots 9-0 to improve their overall record to 3-6 and begin their conference schedule a perfect 2-0.
“Overall, the team played very well,” said senior Laurel Krebsbach (North Oaks, Minn.). “It was the start of conference play, so it was good to get two wins in and build some confidence.”
Gustavus started the day with a dominating performance over Bethel, as it lost just 12 total games at the No. 1-No. 5 singles positions. Krebsbach and Lizzy Stanczyk (Jr., Plymouth, Minn.) each dropped just one game at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions, respectively.
In doubles, Gustavus proved to be just as tough, as the duos of Michaela Schulz (So., Elk River, Minn.)/Stanczyk and Cal Carlson (So., Saint Peter, Minn.)/Ally Baker (Fy., Rosemount, Minn.) each earned 8-1 wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions, respectively.
Against Macalester, the Gusties were just as much of a force, as each of its singles players won in straight sets, including Schulz and Stanczyk posting 6-0, 6-0 victories at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots, respectively. First-year Taylor Shortly (Lindstrom, Minn.) and sophomore Riley Abeyesekera (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) also picked up singles victories, as Shortly earned a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 5 and Abeyesekera cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 victory at No. 6.
The tandems of Sidney Dirks (Jr., Saint Peter, Minn.)/Krebsbach, Schulz/Stanczyk and Carlson/Shortly ensured Gustavus took home another doubles shutout, as they won 8-2, 8-1, and 8-3, respectively.
“Our team loves to play those D-I teams like we’ve played the last few weekends because it really pushes us as a team and helps us realize all we have to work on,” said Krebsbach. “It helps build confidence for conference play because we have been playing at such a high level. It’s great to finally get some wins under our belt and show off all our hard work that we’ve put in over the last few weeks.”
Gustavus will hit the road again this next weekend, as it will travel to Sioux Falls, S.D. on Saturday to take on Augustana College and will go from there to Omaha, Neb. on Sunday to face the University of Nebraska, Kearney.
Gustavus 8, Bethel 1 (Box Score) | Gustavus 9, Macalester 0 (Box Score)