The Gustavus Women’s Tennis team is one meet away from an undefeated MIAC season. On Saturday the Gusties will face Carleton to determine which will be the 2010 MIAC regular season Champion. The match will be held at the Swanson Tennis Center at 1:00 p.m.

Currently Gustavus is ranked at the top of the MIAC with Carleton coming in a close second. The Gusties are 9-0 in the MIAC and 28-10 overall, while Carleton is 8-0 in the MIAC and 12-4 overall. Both Carleton and Gustavus are in the Central Region of the NCAA, with Gustavus currently ranked third and Carleton  ranked tenth. The Gusties have not lost a MIAC match since 1992, which adds pressure to Saturday’s match.

“[We want to] finish undefeated in the MIAC conference and host the NCAA regionals and try to get to the Elite Eight,” Junior Marianne Barau said. Barau has won her last nine singles competitions and six doubles competitions with her partner, Sophomore Megan Gaard, who has also had an impressive singles streak.
The Gusties are led by a two-time All-American, Senior Sierra Krebsbach.

Krebsbach has won her last five singles matches and her last two doubles matches. According to a recent release by the NCAA, Krebsbach is ranked fifth for singles players in the Central Region. Krebsbach is also ranked fourth in doubles with Junior Sam Frank. Other notable performances include Sophomore Maria Bryan and Senior Ali O’Neal.

The Carleton Knights are also undefeated in the MIAC. In addition to their Conference competition, both teams have had other common opponents this season. In March the Knights lost to DePauw 2-7. However, in early April the Gusties defeated DePauw 5-4. The Gusties were also able to defeat the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater with a score of 7-2, while the Knights fell to Whitewater 4-5.

“We have been able to grow as a team and build some trust into each other. We have total confidence in each and every one of our teammates and know that when they will step on the court, they will give everything they have. We are really a team, and I believe this is our biggest accomplishment—to actually play as a team,” Barau said.

According to O’Neal, playing as a team has been a bit of a challenge this season. “Some of our biggest challenges have been surrounded by playing well together at the same time. It’s been hard to get everyone on the same page on the same day, but I think we’re getting better at that as the season goes on,” O’Neal said.

Going into Saturday’s match the Gusties are on an 11-game winning streak. Their most recent triumph was against St. Ben’s with a score of 9-0. It was the 12th time that the Gusties completely swept their opponent.

The victory over St. Ben’s was the second MIAC victory of the weekend for Gustavus. “The match against St. Ben’s was positive. We were able to see some of our weaknesses and will be able to work on them during the week and get us ready for the Carleton match on Saturday,” Barau said.

However, the match against Carleton will be a much bigger test for the Gustie Women. “We’ll need to have a focused week of practice to go into the Carleton match with the same amount of confidence and skill that we had over Spring Break, but as long as we stay focused we’ll be successful,” O’Neal said.

“As far as the rest of the season, this team is talented enough to make it to the National Semifinals. If everyone plays up to potential, that is where we expect to be at the end of May,” Krebsbach said.

There will be plenty of hard- fought tennis matches at Swanson Tennis Center on Saturday, and the Gusties could use support as they try to defend their MIAC title and finish the regular season undefeated.