After a weekend off due to weather, the Gustavus Women’s Tennis Team traveled east to Fredericksburg, Virginia to compete in the Blue-Grey Invitational at the University of Mary Washington.

Due to the snow and freezing rain over the weekend of March 9, the Gusties’ matches against DIII University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and DI Drake University were both cancelled.

On Thursday, March 14, the Gusties traded the rain in Saint Peter for some sun in Virginia and enjoyed a practice before completing the next day.

Coming into the weekend, the Gusties sat at 9-6 on the year and 3-0 in MIAC play.

Thanks to a big 5-4 win over No. 33 Whitman College, the Gusties came into the weekend ranked No. 33 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association national rankings.

On Friday afternoon, the Gusties were set to take on No. 38 Southwestern University (Texas). After a short rain delay, the skies cleared and the Gusties got a strong start on the doubles court.

Sophomore standout Ginger Valentine and her partner, First-year Anna Stutz, led the way for the Gusties with a dominant 8-1 win over their opponents at No. 3 doubles.

Seniors Bri Hartmann and Lilly Hartman also had a strong outing at No. 1 doubles, winning their match 8-5.

At No. 2, First Year Simona Potockova and Sophomore Hannah Borgh dropped their doubles match 8-4. 

Despite their 2-1 lead after doubles play, the score soon tilted in favor of the Pirates, as they took both the No. 5 and No. 6 singles spots in straight sets.

At No. 5, Anna Stutz dropped her match 6-4, 6-2. Hannah Borgh battled at No. 6, but eventually fell 6-3, 6-2.

With the score 2-3 in favor of Southwestern, the top four singles positions were all decided in third sets. The top three Gusties all came back to win their second sets after dropping the first.

At No. 1, Bri Hartman fell by a score of 6-3, 2-6, 6-0. At No. 2, Ginger Valentine fell quickly in the first set 6-1, before coming back to win the second set in a tiebreaker.

She fell in the third set 6-1, which gave the Pirates the clinch and a 5-2 lead.

Regardless of the team score, the third and fourth singles positions were locked in battles and fought hard until the end.

At No. 3 singles, Lilly Hartman lost by an impressive score of 6-4, 2-6, 7-5.

Finally, Simona Potockova was the only Gustie to win her first set, but eventually fell in a marathon match that was decided by a tiebreaker in the third set. Potockova’s score was 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 in favor of Southwestern.

While the 7-2 final score is rather lopsided, the match was decided by four third sets and could’ve gone either way.

The Gusties didn’t have long to dwell on the loss as they had to turn around and go back out on Saturday against another strong opponent in Bates College.

This time, the Black and Gold started slower in doubles. At No. 1, Bri Hartmann and Lilly Hartman secured an 8-5 victory. Both teams at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles suffered losses by identical scores of 8-5.

With a 2-1 deficit moving into singles play, the Gusties displayed strong play at the top two positions.

Bri Hartmann secured a routine 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 1 singles, while Ginger Valentine cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 win.

Unfortunately the quick victories at No. 1 and No. 2 were offset by strong play from Bates at the lower positions.

The marathon matches of the previous day took their toll as Lily Hartman fell 6-0, 6-2 at No. 3 and Simona Potockova lost 6-0, 6-3 at No. 4.

Anna Stutz played a great match at No. 5 but fell 7-5, 6-4. Finally, at No. 6, Senior Ally Thorsen fell 6-3, 6-0. The final score was 6-3 in favor of Bates.

“The trip was a great chance for us to grow closer as a team and gave some of the younger girls a chance to experience more of what tough college competition is like,” Senior Lilly Hartman said.

“It was a great weekend of learning for every player and they’re excited to get back to work next week,” Head Coach Jon Carlson said.

The Gusties will be back in action next weekend in Saint Peter, as they host MSU-Mankato and Southwest Minnesota State at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.

“This year the conference is deep so we are fortunate to play a lot of good teams before we start the heart of our MIAC season,” Hartman said.