The Gustavus women’s tennis team defeated St. Thomas 5-0 in the MIAC Playoff Championship match late Saturday afternoon at the Swanson Tennis Center in St. Peter. The Gusties defeated St. Olaf 5-0 in a semifinal match on Saturday morning to get to the championship match. Gustavus automatically qualifies for the NCAA Tournament as a result of winning the MIAC Post-Season Tournament. The NCAA Tournament field will be announced on Monday afternoon. The Gusties will host the NCAA Championships May 13-18 at the Swanson Indoor Tennis Center and the Brown Outdoor Tennis Complex.
The Gusties, who were seeded #1 in the tournament as a result of winning the MIAC regular season title, started the day with a 5-0 win over St. Olaf. Gustavus won all three doubles points as Jenni White and Sierra Krebsbach defeated Sarah Carlson and Aimee Ny 8-2 at #1, Sam Frank and Ali O’Neal defeated Abigail Ho and Anna Klenke 8-1 at #2, and
Erica Dobson and Jenny Arnfelt defeated Sarah Magnuson and Ida Holdahl 8-1 at #3. Gustavus closed out the match by winning the #5 and #6 singles matches. Erica Dobson defeated Ida Holdahl 6-1, 6-3 at the #5 position and Jenny Arnfelt defeated Maddy Buck 6-0, 6-1 at the #6 position.
In the championship match, Gustavus once again claimed all three doubles matches in convincing fashion. Jenni White and Sierra Krebsbach defeated Allison Bruflodt and Dana Vilar 8-1, Sam Frank and Ali O’Neal defeated Alexandra Frank and Brittany Bachman 8-1 and Erica Dobson and Jenny Arnfelt defeated Madeline Gail and Hadley Syverud 8-4. The Gusties needed to win two singles matches to earn the five points necessary to defeat the Tommies and win the title and Jenni White and Sam Frank came through with decisive victories to make the final score 5-0. White defeated Alexandra Frank 6-0, 6-1 at the #1 position and Sam Frank defeated Brittany Bachman 6-0,6-1 at the #4 position.
Gustavus will be appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the 20th consecutive time dating back to their first ever appearance in 1989. The Gusties won the national championship in 1990.