SAINT PETER, Minn. – First year? No problem.
Karina Elvestrom (Fy., Minnetonka) led the Gusties to an historical finish at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships, defeating every opponent in her way in both the singles and doubles championship. Elvestrom, along with partner
Kaya De Bruijn (Jr., Maasland, Netherlands) claimed the doubles title Sunday over teammates
Allison Szalay (Jr., Des Moines, Iowa) and
Molly Austin (Jr., Arden Hills), and she carried her championship momentum into Monday, winning the singles title in a three-set thriller.
Elvestrom matched up against Carthage's Xingchen Liu, the No. 3 seed in the tournament. The Gustie first-year was seeded just one behind Liu, and proved her standing in the biggest way Monday, overcoming a first set loss to claim the second All-America honor of the weekend - and her young career.
After Elvestrom won the first game of the set, Liu rattled off six in a row for a quick 1-0 lead in the match over the Minnetonka native. Elvestrom wasn't to be counted out, though, picking up her second three-set victory of the tournament. She took the second two by scores of 6-4 to help the Gusties sweep the annual fall championship for the first time since 2010.
"Karina had about as good of a weekend as you can have in your first month of collegiate tennis," said Head Coach
Jon Carlson '88. "She showed her resilience every step of the way today, battling back after a 6-1 loss in the first set to a very skilled and experienced opponent. I'm incredibly proud of her performance, and her third set today was some of the best tennis we saw all weekend. I'm looking forward to building off the successes of this tournament as we continue fall competition and head to the ITA Cup in a couple weeks."
The win brings the Gustie Athletics All-American total to 894, and the women's tennis total to 53. She is the 12th Gustie in program history to earn multiple All-America honors, including current assistant coach
Heidi Carlson '93, Hall of Fame '10. Ginger Valentine '21 was the last two-time All-American for women's tennis, earning the status in singles in 2018 and 2021. Elvestrom joins Tara Houlihan Whiting '06, HOF '21, Lauren Hom Oien '07, HOF '22, and Sierra Krebsbach '10 as the only women's tennis players to receive multiple All-America honors in the same year.
Elvestrom, along with De Bruijn, Szalay, and Austin, will now travel to the ITA Cup to compete on the national stage in Rome, Ga. from Oct. 10-13. Prior to the tournament, the Gusties will take their top team to the UW-Whitewater Warhawk Fall Invite, while also hosting the Gustavus October Invite from Oct. 4-5.
