MADISON, WIS. – After facing two teams ranked inside the top 15 in the Central Region on Friday, the Gustavus Adolphus women’s tennis team’s path did not get any easier on day two of the Midwest Invitational. The Gusties fell to UW-Whitewater (No. 6 in region, No. 29 in nation) 6-3, before falling to Hope College (No. 4 in region and No. 22 nationally) 5-2 to finish their tournament schedule. Gustavus is now 8-12 overall as it heads into the heart of its MIAC schedule.
“Our team improved a lot this past weekend,” said head coach Jon Carlson. “It’s amazing to look back and see how much better we already are from this past Thursday. Of course it would have been nice to come away with a win against one of these top teams…I think our team has worked hard enough to deserve one. But both Hope and Whitewater played outstanding tennis and really pushed us to be our best. I’m excited we were able to get such quality matches in just before we enter the key stage of our conference schedule.”
Against UW-Whitewater, Gustavus continued to play impressive doubles, as it got an 8-4 win from Michaela Schulz (So., Elk River, Minn.)/Lizzy Stanczyk (Jr., Plymouth, Wis.) at No. 2 and a 9-8 (5) victory from Katie Aney (Fy., Rochester, Minn.)/Cal Carlson (So., St. Peter, Minn.) at No. 3 to put Gustavus ahead 2-1 going into singles play.
“I thought our doubles play was definitely a highlight this past weekend,” said Jon Carlson. “We really stepped up and played aggressively and proved that we’re going to be tough to beat at all three spots.”
In singles, senior Laurel Krebsbach (North Oaks, Minn.) was the only Gustie to take home a win as she posted a 6-3, 6-1 victory at No. 2. Schulz took the No. 3 ranked player in the region, Megan Humphreys, to three sets at the No. 1 spot, but could not close the gate and fell by a final score of 2-6, 6-3, 0-6.
Later in the day, Gustavus took on Hope and fell by a final score of 5-2. Hope was able to clinch five victories before two matches were decided, so by tournament rules, the overall match was over. Schulz and Stanczyk continued their dominant play and brought home the lone Gustie doubles win in 8-4 fashion at the No. 2 spot, and Schulz was Gustavus’s lone victor in singles, as she picked up a hard-faught 6-1, 3-6, (10-7) win at No. 1. Stanczyk and Sidney Dirks (Jr., St. Peter, Minn.) were not able to finish their matches at No. 3 and 4 singles, respectively.
Gustavus will play two MIAC matches this coming Saturday when it welcomes Saint Mary’s University and St. Olaf College to St. Peter. The Gusties will take on the Cardinals at noon before they face off with the Oles at 4 p.m. St. Olaf is one of four remaining MIAC schools (including Gustavus) to be undefeated in conference play.