MADISON, Wis. – The No. 33-ranked Gustavus women's tennis team opened the annual Midwest Invite, hosting seven teams at a neutral site in Madison, Wis. for a weekend of competition. The Gusties defeated No. 43 Hope (Mich.) to open the day, before falling to No. 21 Whitman (Wash.) in their second match of the day.
The Friday morning win was the 700th career victory for Head Coach
Jon Carlson '88, the all-time winningest tennis coach in NCAA Division III women's tennis history. Carlson is the first women's tennis coach at the Division III level to eclipse the 700 win mark, and ranks sixth among all collegiate women's tennis coaches for wins in NCAA history. He is the third-winningest active coach in all divisions of collegiate tennis behind only North Carolina's Brian Kalbas and Lynn's Mike Perez.
Gustavus 5, Hope 2
The Gusties claimed win 700 for Carlson via a 5-2 victory over the Flying Dutch (9-6, 3-0 MIAA) Friday morning in Madison. The Gusties claimed the doubles point via wins at No. 1 and No. 2 by scores of 6-4 and 6-3, respectively.
Karina Elvestrom (Fy., Minnetonka, Minn.) and
Kaya De Bruijn (Jr., Maasland, Netherlands) won 6-3 at No. 1, while
Molly Austin (Jr., Arden Hills, Minn.) and
Lanie Davis (Fy., St. Louis, Mo.) claimed the win at No. 2.
In singles play, the Gusties won all but two matches, one of which was a three-set breaker for Elvestrom, falling 2-6, 6-4, 4-10 at No. 1. De Bruijn and Austin won by identical scores of 6-1, 6-2 at singles No. 2 and 3.
Noor Omar (Fy., Fridley, Minn.) claimed a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 5, while Davis won by a pair of 6-1 scores at No. 6.
Gustavus 3, Whitman 4
The Gusties dropped a nailbiter to Whitman in their second match of the day, with the last singles match determining the winner on a tiebreaker in the second set at No. 3.
Whitman (17-3, 11-1 NWC) claimed the doubles point with a 6-3 at No. 1 and a 6-4 victory at No. 3.
Elvestrom defeated Whitman's No. 1 by scores of 6-3 and 6-1 to open singles play, while Davis won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 6. After dropping her first set 6-2, De Bruijn rallied for a 6-3 win in set two at No. 2, before taking the tiebreaker 10-3.
The Blues won both the No. 4 and No. 5 singles matches, setting the stage for Austin's deciding match at No. 3. Austin fell 5-7 in set one, but rallied to take a 6-5 lead in set two. Vang sent it to a tiebreaker, which ended 7-4 in favor of the Blues.
The Gusties (13-7, 2-0 MIAC) return to action for the final day of the invite tomorrow, April 5.
