SAINT PETER, MINN. – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s tennis team suffered a 5-2 defeat to the University of St. Thomas in Sunday’s MIAC Women’s Tennis Playoff Championship that was played at the Brown Outdoor Tennis Complex and the Swanson Tennis Center. The loss gives Gustavus a final record of 16-13, while St. Thomas finishes its regular season 19-2 and earns the MIAC’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
“This is obviously a tough loss, but our team has nothing to hang their heads about,” said head coach Jon Carlson. “We gave 100 percent of our effort and played well…we just happened to run into a very good team across the net. Credit needs to be given to St. Thomas…they are an incredibly tough team and played very well.”
After earning a 6-3 win over the Tommies a little more than a week ago in St. Paul, the Gusties could not muster the same magic in Sunday’s championship. Despite multiple comeback efforts from Gustavus, St. Thomas was able to come away with a 3-0 sweep in doubles play, meaning it needed just two of six singles matches to clinch a victory.
The Gusties went into a 4-0 hole when Katie Aney (Fy., Rochester, Minn.) dropped a 6-3, 6-2 decision to the Tommies’ Jenna Zimmerman at the No. 5 position. However, minutes later, Michaela Schulz (So., Elk River, Minn.) picked up a 6-2, 6-4 win over Shelby Henderson at the No. 1 spot to bring the score to 4-1 and keep the Gusties’ hopes alive.
With four matches still in play, rain and lightening forced the two teams into the Swanson Tennis Center to finish the match. In the bubble, Lizzy Stanczyk (Jr., Plymouth, Wis.) needed just one game to complete her three-set 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 victory over Caitlin Bakke at No. 3 singles to bring the score to 4-2. However, despite making a strong comeback effort to force a third set, the Gusties’ Sid Dirks (Jr., St. Peter, Minn.) was not able to hold off the strong and steady play of St. Thomas’ Kara Lefsrud, and fell 3-6, 6-3, 1-6, giving the Tommies the fifth and clinching point.
Because the match was played to decision, Gustavus’ lone senior, Laurel Krebsbach (North Oaks, Minn.) was not able to finish the final match of her career, but led 2-0 in the third set after splitting her first two. Krebsbach finishes her Gustie tennis career with an overall singles record of 69-36.
“I’m very sad that this was the final match that I’ll have the opportunity to coach Laurel,” said Carlson. “She has been an integral part of our success over the past four years and really stepped up and served as a strong leader this season. I’m so proud of all she’s accomplished and know she’s going to do great things in her future.”
“Overall, as I told our team, losing is never easy,” concluded Carlson. “But I’m so proud of the way we competed and how hard we worked all season long. This was such a fun group to have the opportunity to work with every day and I know we’ll learn from this and have it make us a stronger unit.”