Birthday girl Caitlin Steffen went 2-1 on Saturday to help the Gusties to two victories.
Gustavus 6, Morningside 3 (Box) | Gustavus 8, UM-Duluth 1 (Box) | Drake 4, Gustavus 0 (Box)
ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus College women’s tennis team went 2-1 in its busy Saturday, taking down Morningside 6-3 and UM-Duluth 8-1 at the Swanson Tennis Center, but falling to Division I Drake 4-0 in Des Moines, Iowa. Saturday’s results push the Gusties to 6-3 overall.
Gustavus began its day with a 6-3 win over Morningside. The Gusties got off to a good start, going 2-1 in the doubles matches thanks to wins from Riley Abeyesekera (Jr., Brooklyn Park, Minn.)/Caitlin Steffen (Fy., Baxter, Minn.) at No. 2, and Lauren Ihle (So., Woodbury, Minn.)/Laura Martin (So., Plymouth, Minn.) at No. 3. In singles, Katie Aney (So., Rochester, Minn.) kept the ball rolling, avenging a tough three-set loss to Morningside last season with a 6-3, 6-4 win at the No. 1 position. Cal Carlson (Jr., St. Peter, Minn.) earned a hard fought 6-4, 2-6, 10-4 win at No. 2, and first-year Sheila Sullivan (St. Paul, Minn.) earned the clinching point at the fourth spot with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 victory. Martin then put the icing on the cake with a 6-1, 6-2 ‘W’ at No. 6.
The Black and Gold had a separate squad down in Des Moines to take on Drake. Ally Baker (So., Rosemount, Minn.) and Bri Hartmann (Fy., Owatonna, Minn.) had the highlight of the day, as they took down Summer Brills/Mela Jaglarz 6-1 at No. 3 doubles. However, Division I rules make it so that all three doubles matches count as just one point, and the Bulldogs won the No. 1 and 2 doubles matches to take the lone doubles point. In singles, Michaela Schulz (Jr., Elk River, Minn.), Lizzy Stanczyk (Sr., Plymouth, Wis.), and Sid Dirks (Sr., St. Peter, Minn.) each fell in straight sets at positions 1-3, giving Drake the win, as the match was only played until completion. Hartmann was tied at 6-6 in her first set as the match was called.
Laura Martin won both her singles and doubles matches over Morningside.
“We played very well against an incredibly tough Drake team,” said assistant coach Heidi Carlson. “The scores in the matches that we lost don’t reflect how well our team competed or the improvements they made from playings against such good competition, especially in doubles. Unfortunately with Division I rules being a little different, we weren’t able to see how some of the matches would have played out, but I’m so proud of our team.”
Against Division II UM-Duluth, the Gustie home squad continued their morning momentum to earn an 8-1 win. Aney, Carlson, Shortly, and Sullivan each earned singles and doubles victories on the evening, while Steffen, Abeyesekera, and Kaity Johnson (Sr., Litchfield, Minn.) took home singles wins at positions 4-6, respectively, to help the Gusties to a singles sweep. Johnson highlighted the evening with a come-from-behind 2-6, 7-6 (7-1), 10-6 marathon.
“Our home team pulled out some great wins today,” said Coach Jon Carlson. “We played smarter as the day went on and made some major improvements. I’m proud of the team for their overall mental toughness and fighting through some tough matches today.”
The Gusties will be in San Antonio from Friday, March 11-Tuesday, March 15 to take on nationally-ranked East Texas Baptist, Trinity, Texas-Lutheran, and Mary Hardin-Baylor.