ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Gustavus women's tennis team, which jumped into the top 25 in this week's national rankings, extended its lead atop the MIAC standings with just one match to play in the regular season with an 8-1 win over Bethel on Saturday, April 26.
The Gusties (23-7, 9-0 MIAC) swept the doubles competition and won singles matches No. 2-6 en route to the win over Bethel (13-4, 8-2 MIAC), which helped the team clinch at least a share of the MIAC Regular Season Championship, the program's 31st and first since 2022. The Gusties can clinch the title outright with a win at St. Scholastica in the team's season finale.
Gustavus has not dropped a doubles match to a conference opponent all season, and Saturday was no exception, as the Gusties took a quick 3-0 lead to open play at the Ona Orth Athletic Complex.
Allison Szalay (Jr., Des Moines, Iowa) and
Ella De Young (So., Iowa City, Iowa) claimed the first win of the day 8-2 at No. 3, while nationally-ranked
Karina Elvestrom (Fy., Minnetonka, Minn.) and
Kaya De Bruijn (Jr., Maasland, Netherlands) won 8-4 at No. 1.
Molly Austin (Jr., Arden Hills, Minn.) and
Lanie Davis (Fy., St. Louis, Mo.) completed the sweep with an 8-2 win at No. 2.
In singles play, MIAC Athlete of the Week De Bruijn cruised at No. 2, defeating Bethel's Michaella Sullivan 6-2 and 6-1. All of the singles matches were decided in two sets, followed by Austin's dominant win at No. 3, 6-3, 6-1 to improve to 8-0 in conference singles matches.
Noor Omar (Fy., Fridley, Minn.) won by a pair of 6-3 scores at No. 5, while classmate Davis went 6-3, 6-4 for her eighth win in her last nine singles matches.
Brooke Haddorff (Sr., Burnsville, Minn.) won 6-5, 6-4 at No. 6, while Elvestrom dropped the only match of the day, a 7-5, 6-4 decision to BU's Lauryn Douglas.
The Gusties conclude their regular season in Duluth tomorrow, April 27, facing St. Scholastica (11-6, 5-4 MIAC) for a 1 p.m. match to conclude the MIAC schedule.
