SAINT PETER, MINN. – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s tennis team came away with two convincing MIAC victories on Saturday, as it defeated Saint Mary’s University 9-0 and St. Olaf College 8-1 at the Brown Outdoor Tennis Complex to remain perfect in conference play at 6-0 and improve its overall record to 10-12.
“Our women really came ready to play today,” said head coach Jon Carlson. “Even without the opportunity to have played outside a ton this past week, they all made the adjustments they needed to and played smart, fundamental tennis to get these wins. I was very encouraged by what I saw from each of them.”
Gustavus 9, def. Saint Mary’s 0
The Gusties began their day with a shutout over of the Cardinals of Saint Mary’s. The first-year doubles tandem of Katie Aney (Rochester, Minn.) and Ally Baker (Rosemount, Minn.) had the most convincing doubles victory on the day with an 8-0 result at No. 3, while another first-year, Taylor Shortly (Lindstrom, Minn.) came away with a 6-0, 6-0 win in her No. 5 singles match.
Gustavus 8, St. Olaf 1
Later in the afternoon, Gustavus faced St. Olaf, who at the beginning of the week was one of four schools in the MIAC to still be undefeated in conference play. After a narrow 5-4 win against the Oles last season, Gustavus came away with a resounding 8-1 victory over St. Olaf on Saturday.
The Gusties began with a clean sweep of each of their three doubles matches to take an early 3-0 lead heading into singles play. Baker and Aney found themselves down 4-3 at No. 3, but fought back to win five straight games and earn an 8-4 win, the same score as their teammates at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions earned.
In singles, a battle of regionally-ranked individuals proved to go in Gustavus’s favor, as sophomore Michaela Schulz (Elk River, Minn.), who is ranked No. 13 in the Central Region, defeated the Oles’ Lisa Hall who is ranked No. 25, 6-3, 6-2.
Sid Dirks (Jr., St. Peter, Minn.), Aney and Baker each came away with straight set wins at the No. 4, 5 and 6 positions, respectively, to clinch the match for Gustavus.
Senior Laurel Krebsbach (North Oaks, Minn.) had the hardest-earned victory for Gustavus. Krebsbach took her first set over Ole senior Kristi Kroker 6-4 before Kroker fought back in the second set to earn an identical 6-4 win to set up a dramatic 10-point super tiebreaker to decide the match. With her back against the wall down 9-4, Krebsbach fought off five consecutive match points and eventually came away with a thrilling 13-11 win to give Gustavus its eighth victory.
“I’m so proud of Laurel and the way she fought in her match,” said Carlson. “You can’t ask for much more from your senior leader.”
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Gustavus will take the court again next Saturday when it heads to Northfield, Minnesota for a battle with 2014 MIAC Champion Carleton College (7-1 MIAC). That match will begin at 4 p.m. on the Bell Field Courts.