Staff Writer- Nathan Swanson
The Gustavus Women’s Tennis team kicked off its season this last weekend with the Gustavus Fall Invite. While this competition was an exhibition, the girls still appreciated going out to play and getting their season going. For the first-years, it was their opening experience playing for the Gustavus team. The upperclassmen were already well-acquainted with the double-edged sword of both a ton of excitement and a handful of nerves. Overall, the invite was positive and good-spirited, as teammates supported each other as much as possible. The players would come around and cheer on their teammates, giving them the boost and energy they would need to keep steady. Opening matches took place on Saturday, both inside the tennis bubble and also the outside courts at the Swanson Tennis Center.
Within the first singles draw, Junior Kaya De Bruijn won in two sets, 6-2, 6-4 against Bemidji State’s Paula Garcia Acebal. In her semifinal match, she played Pari Chaven of Grinnell and won in three sets 6-3, 5-7, 10-6. T
alking about the team’s mindset on Saturday heading into the Invite, De Bruijn felt the team had everything in order. “Saturday, we stepped on the court ready to go … we were fresh … it was hot, but the whole team was there … we were going to roll with it… it felt great,” De Bruijn said.
When asked about her game day mindset, she replied that she focused on staying aggressive and using that approach to her advantage. “For me personally, the most important thing was to keep going for my own shots… it was really important for myself to keep hitting the ball… I just had to go for everything, never giving up,” De Bruijn said.
In the second singles draw, Junior Allison Szalay won 6-2, 6-2 against Logan Tom of Grinnell, and then 7-5, 6-7(5), 10-5, matched up against Sophomore Ella De Young in the semifinal. Senior Pavla Yakimova, who recovered in the semifinal of the third draw singles, made it to the final as well, winning 3-6, 6-4, 10-4. In the fifth singles draw, Katie Thompson saw a victory in her opening round as she won 6-1, 6-1, and then in the semifinals as she won 6-1, 6-0. Junior Ashley Strobel and Sophomore Bethany Smith also made it to the finals match as they won their sixth singles draw, respectively. The double tandems of Junior Molly Austin/Szalay and First-year Karina Elvestrom/De Bruijn advanced to the semifinals.
Day Two of the Gustavus Fall Invite saw the finals matches square off. De Bruijn was victorious in the #1 Singles, winning 7-6, 4-6, 10-8 against Julie Van Zeijl of Jamestown.
De Brujin had a standout performance, yet humbly attributed her success partially to the atmosphere of support and pride her teammates cultivate, mentioning how during finals, she “had a whole stack of teammates on the side cheering for me as if it was one of the most important matches ever… it was so cool to see.”
Yakimova won the #3 singles championship, defeating Anika Sheth of Grinnell 1-6, 7-5, 10-7. In the #5 singles, First-year Katie Thompson won 6-3, 1-6, 10-7 against Grinnell’s Luiza Kohn. Smith won her #6 singles final 6-2, 7-6. Doubles finals championships included Elvestrom/De Bruijn winning 8-4 in the #1 doubles final, as well as First-year Maya Brakhage and Smith taking the #2 doubles final.
The team will be right back this next weekend for the ITA Midwest Regional Championships, being held on campus at The Swanson Tennis Center. Some of their focus for this week includes individual points of emphasis on technique, as well as the emotions and mindset of the practices leading into the weekend. With the ITA Championships being the main event of the fall season, the team is excited to play and see what they can accomplish.
De Bruijn, who is a senior, talked about how special it is to make the most of this time and feel the support from the team. “It’s really exciting… I have six other seniors with me as well, so it will be the last time that we will be playing this…” For her, it will be rewarding to see “everyone going out there and having fun, and playing their matches, and giving it all they got for one last time for the seven of us.” It’s evident from the team’s insights, as well as the electric atmosphere as a spectator, that the team is poised for another spectacular season.