Parker Burman-
Over Spring Break, the Gustavus Women’s Tennis team traveled to Fredericksburg, Virginia for several showdowns against nationally ranked opponents. Unfortunately, the trip did not produce the fruits of success that the Gusties had hoped for as they came home from their trip winless in their four matches.
The Gusties started their week in Virginia against #29 Southwestern University. Gustavus managed their only wins of the day in their doubles matches, as the duo of Sophomore Kaya De Brujin and First-year Bethany Smith won 8-4 in No. 2 doubles to lead off the match. This was followed up by Senior Alli Laux and Sophomore Pavla Yakimova with an 8-6 win at the No. 3 doubles. Southwestern’s third doubles pair defeated Sophomore Allison Szalay and First-year Molly Austin 8-3. This prevented the Gusties from sweeping the doubles competition.
Day two’s match-up pitted the Gusties against #19 Case Western, however, Gustavus would be swept by Case Western in a 0-9 loss. Case Western threw their best nationally ranked tandem against Szalay and Austin for an 8-9 defeat at No. 1 doubles. De Bruijn and Bethany Smith fell 8-1 at No. 2 doubles, with Laux and Yakimova falling 8-5 after putting up a strong fight.
“We did a lot of learning today and yesterday,” Head Coach Jon Carlson said. “We definitely improved in some areas today, but both Case Western and Southwestern are very good teams. I think these two matches will help us be a better team going forward.”
The third day of competition had Gustavus meet their third nationally ranked opponent in as many matches, as they faced off against #32 Mary Washington. Putting up a stronger fight against Mary Washington yet the Gusties fell 6-3, dropping them to 7-5 on the season overall. Gustavus fell behind early as Mary Washington won two of the three doubles matches, with Laux and Yakimova securing the first point of the day for the Gusties.
Yakimova would help pick up her second point of the day securing a singles victory along with De Bruijn. The Eagles won the remaining singles matches to collect those points to beat the Gusties by three points.
“We had a better day,” Carlson said. “We still have some things that we need to clean up in our shot selection, but it was an overall good day. We certainly got better in today’s match.” The Gusties learned a lot from their defeat to Case Western and made some solid improvements in the match against Mary Washington.
The match scheduled for match number four on Thursday against Virginia Wesleyan was canceled but the Gusties resumed play on Friday against Averett. Gustavus recently earned a spot in the ITA’s national rankings at #48.
Just like the match against Mary Washington, Gustavus fell behind 2-1 after a pair of doubles wins from Averett. However, the Gusties got a trio of singles wins courtesy of Austin, Yakimova, and First-year Ella De Young to put the Gusties back in it, however it just wasn’t enough as they would eventually fall 5-4.
Gustavus is back in action this weekend with a team heading to the Madison Invite in Madison, Wisconsin, and another team being sent north to square off with UM-Duluth on Saturday. Good luck, Gusties!