The Gustavus women’s tennis team saw its season come to an end with a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to Amherst College in a NCAA Team Championship quarterfinal match. The tournament is being held at Mary Washington University in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The Gusties jumped out to a 3-0 lead after winning all three doubles matches, however the Lord Jeffs stormed back to win five of the six singles matches to claim the 5-4 victory. Gustavus ends its season with a mark of 26-6 overall.
Coach Jon Carlson’s squad got off to a very promising start by winning all three doubles matches. Lauren Hom (Sr., Stevens Point, Wis.) and Sierra Krebsbach (Fy., North Oaks, Minn.) defeated Brittany Berckes and Alicia Menezes 8-6 at the #1 position, while Jaime Gaard (Sr., Edina, Minn.) and Jenni White (Jr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa) defeated Katie Hudson and Jill Wexler 8-5 at the #2 position, and Hannah Frericks (Sr., Sartell, Minn.) and Darcy Haubrick (Sr., Elk River, Minn.) defeated Jennifer Murphy and Laura Stein 8-4 at the #3 position.
Amherst charged back in the singles portion of the match winning the first set in all six singles matches. The Lord Jeffs evened the match at 3-3 with straight set victories at #2, #5, and #6 singles. At #2 singles, Jaime Gaard lost to Brittany Berckes 0-6, 1-6. At #5, Hannah Frericks lost to Katie Hudson 2-6, 1-6, and at #6, Darcy Haubrick lost to Laura Stein 5-7, 3-6. Amherst took a 4-3 lead in the match when Monica Snyder defeated the Gusties Jenni White 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 at the #3 spot.
Lauren Hom evened the match at 4-4 with a thrilling 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 win over Alicia Menezes at the #1 position. The final match on the court was #4 singles where Sierra Krebsbach was locked up in a tense battle with Jennifer Murphy. Murphy won the first set 6-4, but Krebsbach bounced right back to take the second set 6-4. In the third set, both players held serve up to 5-5, but then Murphy won the last two games to claim the match 7-5 and give Amherst the win over the Gusties.
Lauren Hom and Sierra Krebsbach will now have two days to rest and prepare for the singles and doubles tournaments which begin on Friday. Hom will play in the singles tournament for the third time in the past four years. She will team with Krebsbach in the doubles tournament.