The Women’s Tennis team is poised for another successful year in the Gustavus tennis tradition. The team will open its individual season this weekend, Sept. 25-27, at the Midwest Regional Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Tournament, which Gustavus will host.

Although the team was strong last year, Head Coach Jon Carlson has very high hopes for the Gusties. “This is as deep a group as we’ve had talent-wise in many, many years. We’ve played matches against each other the past couple weekends, and it’s absolutely some of the best tennis I’ve seen us play against each other. I’m very excited about where we’re at as a team,” Carlson said.

The team had only one top player graduate last spring. Returning players of note include Senior Sierra Krebsbach, Juniors Marianne Barau, Ali O’Neal and Sam Frank and Sophomore Megan Gaard.

Only losing one senior was good for building depth and experience in the team. “I think we’re looking very, very good. We’ve had five players coming back from last year from the top six, so that’s very good,” Barau said.

In addition to the returning players, several newcomers have added to the team’s depth. Sophomore Alex Erickson and First-years Maria Bryan and Katie Allen all joined the squad this year.

“We have a really big [first-year] class coming in this year. … They have a really good work ethic and are fitting really well into the system, so that’s always good that everybody’s kind of pushing everybody,” Gaard said.

Another change for the team is the fact that many of the doubles partners switched. “It will be a challenge to change your habits, but it will be fun. It’s always fun to have a new partner, get to know them and try to figure stuff out,” Barau said.

All four of the new doubles teams should be competitive in the tournament. “We kind of mix it up a little bit, but all of the four teams are going to be very good, so we’ll have fun and be able to compete with everyone else that’s there,” Frank said.

The tournament this weekend will eventually end in All-American honors for the top performers in singles and doubles play.

“This is a Small College Regional [tournament], and the winners will go on to the Small College Nationals. There [are] eight regions throughout the nation, so it’s a very competitive tournament, and the winner of the tournament in both singles and doubles receives All-American,” Carlson said.

The tournament will take place in Gustavus’ Swanson Tennis Center. “Play begins at 9:00 a.m. every day, with the semifinals and finals on Sunday morning beginning at 9:00 a.m.,” Carlson said.

Gustavus generally hosts this tournament every year because of the outstanding tennis facilities. “We just had the Gibbs courts redone. People want us to host because our facilities are so superior,” Carlson said.

Last year’s tournament proved to be different from the players’ expectations. “We thought the competition was going to be good, but there were a lot of young players, so this year it’s probably going to be up a little bit just because there is more experience,” Frank said.

This year, the competition should be challenging for the Gusties. Over 20 schools will participate in the tournament. “This always brings out the best players in our region, and we’ve had great players in the past who end up losing early in the tournament just because of the depth of the draw,” Carlson said.

In addition to battling players from other schools, the Gustie women will be in competition with each other. “Eight Gustavus [athletes] are in the tournament this year. We’re just as good competition against each other,” Gaard said.

The tennis season is not a traditional one, with individual play in the fall and team play in the spring. This makes for an extended season, but the players enjoy playing in both seasons.

“I really like starting in the fall because it kind of jumpstarts us back into tennis … and gives us a good look about what the spring is going to look like,” Gaard said.

The team season “usually begins the first weekend of February. We’re taking a training trip to Puerto Rico, and right when we get back, that’s when the season begins,” Frank said.

The players have put in weeks of practice to get to this point, and they are all excited to get back on the court for this weekend’s tournament.

“You see all the work you’ve done for the past weeks come forward for that one purpose,” Barau said.