The Gustavus Women’s Tennis team is back on the court and set to defend its MIAC regular season title for a remarkable 18th consecutive year. Coming off a season that saw the Gusties finish 33-11, this year’s squad looks to continue its winning ways.
The Gusties open the MIAC regular season next Saturday with home matchups against Hamline and St. Benedict.

“It feels great to get our season going again,” Junior Megan Gaard said. “All of us have been working hard in the offseason, and we are excited to show off the hard work in our upcoming matches.”

Having won its fourth consecutive MIAC playoff title—dating to the tournament’s inception—Gustavus enters the season focused on extending its success to the national level. Despite having advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals in each of the past five years, the Gusties have been unable to break through to the next round in each trip.

“We definitely have the potential to advance further this year,” Senior Marianne Barau said. “Having lost the past couple of years in the quarterfinals has made us want to work really hard and get past it.”

Last season’s early exit at nationals came at the hands of Williams College, which entered the tournament as the heavy favorite after winning the NCAA title the previous year. The Ephs swept the three doubles matches before taking two singles matches to come away with a 5-0 win over the Gusties.

“We were the clear underdogs, playing the tournament’s number two seed and defending champion, but we had the strength and depth to pull off the upset,” Gaard said. “With hard work and more confidence, we can put ourselves back in that position this spring and have an even better chance of advancing.”

The Gusties admit that recording the best overall record in the program’s history and earning the opportunity to perform on a national stage caused them to let down their guard a bit when it came time to perform at the NCAA tournament.

“With us already at nationals as one of the top eight teams, I think we took that as a big accomplishment in itself, and as a result we didn’t bring our best game,” Senior Sam Frank said. “We even heard the Williams coaches say they were surprised that they swept doubles from us.”

Several new changes have the team envisioning a better showing within the conference, as well as on a national level.

“We have a stronger doubles lineup this year, which is important when we’re playing the top teams in the nation,” Frank said. “The competition this season will be tough as always, but we’re just going to take things one step at a time.”

Although the Gusties graduated a pair of key contributors from last year’s squad, this year’s team prides itself on bringing back a strong core of familiar faces, and each has another year of experience under her belt.

“We have two new [first-years] as well as one transfer student that came in this spring,” Gaard said. “Every member of our team brings something new and different each year and plays an important role in our team chemistry.”

The Gusties recently traveled to Puerto Rico on a training trip that allowed the team to practice together for the first time since the conclusion of last season.

“The Puerto Rico trip was an amazing experience. Besides hitting a lot of tennis balls and conditioning every day, I think the training trip is most important for team bonding,” Gaard said. “Spending a week together as a team really helps us shape the relationships that will make us stronger as a team for the rest of the season.”

Head coach Jon Carlson’s squad quickly got back in the swing of things after returning from Puerto Rico, hosting a trio of matches the first weekend back. The Gusties’ top squad lost to Drake before beating Graceland.

“Graceland was a great match for us to start the season. It served as a good confidence builder for us with everyone getting a win,” Barau said. “Last year we didn’t have any wins against Drake and we had two this year, so we’re just going to try and keep improving the rest of the way.”

The Gusties fared well against a powerful Division I foe in Drake. The match provided optimism for the team for the season ahead.

“We lost to Drake, but we had a good match against them,” Frank said. “It’s tough to play a top team like Drake this early in the season, but we were pumped that we could play well with them.”

The Gusties enter the season with a strong showing in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association preseason polls. Five Gusties rank in the top 20 individuals,  while two doubles tandems cracked the top 10 for the central region. The poll also has Gustavus as the seventh ranked team in the nation, which players say has placed a target on their backs.

“I think having a target on our backs motivates us more to remain at the top of our game,” Gaard said. “Although a little pressure comes from that, it is fun to back up our confidence with big wins.”

The stellar preseason showing in the polls can be traced in part to the team’s success at the ITA Small College Championships in the fall. Frank became the first Gustie to reach the tournament’s finals in the singles draw, while the duo of Barau and Gaard took seventh place in doubles.

“It was a good way to end the individual season in the fall. I had told myself this summer that I was going to do everything that I could to win that tournament,” Frank said. “My performance in that tournament will definitely help me this season and motivate me even more to leave it all out on the court.”

With a successful fall season in tow and a talented squad looking to expand on the last season’s performance, the Gusties head into the season confident in their ability to hang tough with any team they face.

“The MIAC may not be as competitive, but there are other teams out there that we need to be ready for,” Frank said. “We can compete with and beat the best because we believe we’re as good as any other team out there.”