As the Women’s Tennis season is heading into full swing, the team is hoping to improve its 3-5 record.
The Gusties dropped a number of matches earlier this season in some challenging competitions but are looking to turn things around as they head into more games against conference opponents.
Gustavus Women’s Tennis has an impressive team this year, including Junior Briana Hartmann, an ITA Midwest Regional Title winner and All-American, and many other athletes with impressive results from their time here.
The team purposely made a hard schedule against non-conference opponents to help the program build and compete better entering regular season play.
The Gusties are once again being recognized for their talent, earning a spot at No. 29 in the national rankings for Division III, despite their losing record early into the season.
On Feb. 25, the team took a pair of losses to the University of Northwestern Ohio and Butler University but they were looked at as positive experiences for the team, according to Head Coach Jon Carlson.
“The team played better and better each match,” Carlson said. “Unfortunately our competition got better as the weekend went on. To take on the doubles point from Division I Butler was big. I know it may sound weird, but even though we had losses, it was a very valuable trip. The girls knew they were a much better team in the end.”
“We came out of today a better team and I am proud to be their coach.” — Coach Carlson
The fact that the team could compete with schools in higher divisions boosted spirit and motivation for the Gusties as they headed into a pair of games this past weekend.
On March 10, the team hosted Concordia College and the University of Northwestern-St. Paul. The Gusties showed they would not let the losses earlier this season effect their mindset and goals for the season.
The team started off the day against Concordia, a MIAC opponent that would count towards the team’s conference record.
The Gusties made quick work of Concordia, first winning all six singles matches, and then followed up with winning all three doubles matches.
All six of the athletes playing in singles won in two sets. On the doubles side, Senior Katie Aney and Junior Lilly Hartman won their match with a score of 8-2, First-years Ginger Valentine and Hannah Borgh won with a score of 8-2, and Seniors Laura Martin and Lauren Ihle won with a score of 8-3.
The singles and doubles team lineups changed from game to game, showing the depth of the program and their ability to win matches with many different members of the team.
The Gusties dominated the competition and remained focused on winning throughout the day, according to Carlson.
“It was good to get the whole team involved in the wins today,” Carlson said. “I’m proud of how we competed and learned along the way. We came out of today a better team and I am proud to be their coach.”
Later that day, the Gusties faced off against the University of Northwestern-St. Paul and the story was similar.
The team was in sync and driven, winning all six singles matches again and only needing two sets to do so in all of the matches.
The Gusties also followed in a similar fashion as earlier in the day, winning all three doubles matches with scores of 8-3, 8-2, and 8-0.
Coming off of two straight sweeps, the team has their sights set on its trip to Rock Island, Illinois this weekend. The No. 29 ranked Gusties will go head-to-head with two non-conference teams, Augustana University and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
The team faces Augustana at 9 a.m. and Whitewater at 1 p.m. March 10.