Gustavus 7, East Texas Baptist 2 (Box) | Gustavus 8, Texas Lutheran 1 (Box)
SAN ANTONIO – The Gustavus Adolphus College women’s tennis team continued its solid play on Sunday by defeating two more opponents to remain undefeated at 3-0 in the Trinity University Invite. The Gusties took down No. 37 East Texas Baptist 7-2 in the tournament’s morning session before defeating Texas Lutheran 8-1 later in the afternoon. With the wins, Gustavus moves to 9-3 overall.
“I continue to be proud of how hard our team competes each match,” said Coach Jon Carlson. “We’ve played some great competition down here, and the team has responded to the challenges nicely. Each individual is taking their roles seriously, and because of that, we’re playing as one unit. We’re looking forward to another big challenge tomorrow with another nationally-ranked squad in Trinity.”
The Gusties began the day with their first competition of the season against a nationally-ranked squad. Going against the 37th-ranked Tigers, Gustavus showed little nerves, taking a doubles sweep to head into singles play up 3-0. The tandems of Michaela Schulz (Jr., Elk River, Minn.)/Lizzy Stanczyk (Sr., Plymouth, Wis.), Sid Dirks (Sr., St. Peter, Minn.)/Lilly Hartman (Fy., Cedar Rapids, Iowa), and Ally Baker (So., Rosemount, Minn.)/Briana Hartmann (Fy., Owatonna, Minn.) came away with 8-5, 8-6, and 8-1 wins, respectively.
In singles, Stanczyk, Baker, and Hartmann earned their second wins of the day at the second, fourth, and fifth positions, respectively, while Katie Aney (So., Rochester, Minn.) chipped in with a 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 6. Schulz took the lone loss of the day in singles, falling in a tight three-set battle to the 10th-ranked player in the country in East Texas Baptist’s Kayla Casey.
Gustavus continued to roll against Texas Lutheran. The same pairings kept the Gusties perfect in doubles on the day with 8-3, 8-1, and 8-3 wins, respectively, while Dirks, Baker, Hartmann, and Aney each moved up one spot from earlier in the day to take the place of Stanczyk who was forced out of the singles lineup due to illness. The four each won their matches in straight sets, and Cal Carlson (Jr., St. Peter, Minn.) stepped in seamlessly at the sixth spot to take a 6-1, 6-1 victory. Schulz’s day didn’t get any easier, as she took on the 11th-ranked individual in the nation in the Bulldog’s Sophia Vega, falling 6-1, 7-6 (3).
The Gusties will have their hands full again tomorrow with their final match of their Texas trip against No. 24 Trinity. That match is scheduled for 10 a.m.