ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s tennis team hosted the 2016 USTA/ITA Midwest Regional Tournament this weekend, which featured 30 of the top teams in the region. The Gusties had a good showing in both the singles and doubles draws with four individuals making the final 16 in singles play and one doubles team in the final four.
Megan Humphreys of UW-Whitewater defeated Bridget Bellissimo of UW-La Crosse 7-5, 6-0 for the singles title, while the doubles team of Humphreys and Gabi Kitchell of UW-Whitewater beat Hayley Resnick and Lauren French of Coe College 7-6 (6-2) for the championship.
Gusties making the round of 16 in the singles draw included Briana Hartman (So., Owatonna, Minn.), Michaela Schulz (Sr., Elk River, Minn.), Cal Carlson (Sr., St. Peter, Minn.), and Ally Baker (Jr., Rosemount, Minn.). Schulz made it to the round of eight, but was defeated by Karen Moe of Northwestern-St. Paul 6-4, 6-3. After a first round bye, Schulz posted victories over Megan Vandenberg of Saint Mary’s 6-0, 6-1, Alicia Knoll of St. Kate’s 6-3, 6-1, and Sarah Henderson of UW-Eau Claire 6-1, 6-0. Hartman earned wins over Lily Stein of Macalester 6-1, 6-0, Elizabeth Manlick of St. Norbert 6-1, 6-1, and Jenna Zimmerman of St. Thomas 6-2, 6-4 before falling to Iman Qureshi of Carleton 6-1, 6-2. Carlson beat Katherine Ake of St. Norbert 6-3, 6-1, Megan Krzewinski of Carroll 6-1, 6-1, and Bailey Kelly of Concordia-Wisconsin 6-2, 6-2, but ended her run with a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Zoe Park of Carleton. Baker received a first round bye and went on to defeat Katie Frankel of Lawrence 6-1, 6-1 and Judith Fan of Grinnell 6-2, 6-4 before losing 6-1, 6-2 to Gabi Kitchell of UW-Whitewater.
The doubles team of Schulz and Baker gave eventual champs Humphreys and Kitchell a run for the money in the semifinals, but lost a close match 9-7. After a first round bye, Schulz and Baker made it to the semifinals with wins over Madeline Slicker and Brittany Goebel of UW-Whitewater 8-4, Sarah Henderson and Nathalie Wijesinghe of UW-Eau Claire 8-6, and Jackie Cychosz and Britta Pressler of Luther 8-1.
“I was very excited with the team’s play all weekend,” Head Coach Jon Carlson said. “While we didn’t have a champion, I think we showed a lot of depth with a lot of players advancing further in the draws than past years. There was a lot of winning and a lot of learning all weekend. This was the perfect way to end the fall season. I know the team is excited to start preparing for the spring.”