WHITEWATER, Wis. — The Gustavus women's tennis team competed at the ITA Division III Midwest Regional Championship hosted by UW-Whitewater over the weekend, fielding nine athletes in the competition.
Molly Austin (Arden Hills, Minn.), seeded No. 6 in the region, led the Gusties, advancing to the singles quarterfinals with three victories before falling in two sets to Bethel's Lauryn Douglas, who eventually advanced to the tournament's championship.
Allison Szalay (Urbandale, Iowa) and
Pavla Yakimova (Glasgow, United Kingdom) each advanced to the singles round of 16. Yakimova, ranked No. 26 in the region, upset Grinnell's Paige Sargent with a 7-5, 7-6 victory, but fell to Bethel's Michaella Sullivan in the next round. Szalay enjoyed a bye through the first round, followed by two victories before falling to Concordia-Wisconsin's Ricki Budewitz. Szalay won the first set of the round of 16 matchup 6-0, before falling 7-6 and 10-7 to the No. 14 ranked player in the region.
Douglas and Grinnell's Irene Agusti advanced to the championship, which will take place tomorrow morning.
The Gusties truly shined in the doubles competition, with three of four teams advancing to the round of 16, and two to the semifinals.
Brooke Haddorff (Eagan, Minn.) and Yakimova advanced to the round of 16 with a commanding 8-1 victory in the round before, but fell to conference opponents Lauryn Douglas and Julia Baber of Bethel. The duos of
Bethany Smith (Maple Grove, Minn.) and
Kaya De Bruijn (Maasland, Netherlands) and Szalay and Austin each advanced to the Sunday semifinal. The teammates faced each other with a trip to the finals on the line, with Szalay and Austin winning the matchup, 8-5. Szalay and Austin's run came to a close in the championship, as the Gusties were bested by St. Catherine's Kelsey Dorr and Sofia Walker - the No. 2 ranked doubles team in the region.
"We had a great weekend out in Whitewater," said Head Coach
Jon Carlson. "This was one of the best performances at ITA Regionals our team has had in years. It's exciting to send a doubles team off to nationals, and I think all the girls had a really strong weekend. This was a great way to wrap up the fall and head into the offseason, and definitely has the team looking forward to spring competition."
Doubles finalists Szalay and Austin will now head to the ITA Cup in Rome, Ga. in the second week of October.
