CHICAGO, Ill. – No. 18 Gustavus women's tennis ended its season in the third round of the NCAA tournament – the regional championship – against host and reigning national champion No. 1 Chicago. The Gusties claimed the doubles point but couldn't keep pace with three nationally- and five regionally-ranked singles opponents, falling 4-1.
Gustavus finishes its season 27-8 overall, while Chicago (22-1 overall) will advance to the Elite Eight. In the 2024-25 season, the Gusties claimed both MIAC championships, made their first NCAA appearance since 2018, collected three All-America honors, and earned 19 MIAC accolades from eight different players.
The Gusties claimed their 15th consecutive doubles win, earning the point via victories at Nos. 1 and 2 to start the day. The Maroons claimed the first win of the day, a 6-1 decision over
Allison Szalay (Jr., Des Moines, Iowa) and
Ella De Young (So., Iowa City, Iowa) at No. 3. The Iowa natives won their first game at deuce, but their opposition from Chicago rattled off six unanswered in under 30 minutes of play.
Molly Austin (Jr., Arden Hills, Minn.) and
Lanie Davis (Fy., St. Louis, Mo.), winners of their last 13 doubles matches, ended the season with their 14th consecutive, claiming a 6-3 victory at No. 2. Chicago took the lead at 1-0, and again at 2-1, but couldn't slow down the late momentum of Austin and Davis, who claimed games 4-6 consecutively to set the stage for the deciding point at No. 1.
Karina Elvestrom (Fy., Minnetonka, Minn.) and
Kaya De Bruijn (Jr., Maasland, Netherlands) got off to a fairly slow start in the top position, trailing the Maroons at 5-3. The pair evened the score at five apiece and won the final two games for the 7-5 victory and doubles point clinch.
In singles play, Austin suffered her first defeat since April 4, as Chicago's Sarena Biria – the 37th-ranked singles player in the nation and fifth in the region – claimed a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 3 to even the score, 1-1. Elvestrom dropped the next match at No. 1, falling 6-4, 6-0 to Sylwia Mikos, ranked No. 14 in the nation and fifth in the region.
In her final collegiate tennis match,
Brooke Haddorff (Sr., Burnsville, Minn.) fell 6-0, 6-2 at No. 6, while the Maroons followed quickly with a 6-1, 6-3 win over
Noor Omar (Fy., Fridley, Minn.) at No. 5.
Davis was trailing 1-6, 3-5 at No. 4 when play stopped, while De Bruijn was the only Gustie to win her first set in singles, a 7-6 battle with a 7-4 tiebreaker.
Elvestrom and De Bruijn will continue their seasons, representing Gustavus at the NCAA Individual Championships May 24-27 at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center in Claremont, Calif., hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
The NCAA announced its selections Wednesday evening (May 7). Elvestrom was selected to compete in both the singles and doubles championships, joined by partner De Bruijn in doubles. The national individual appearance will be the first for both athletes, and their draw will be released by the NCAA and the women's tennis committee on May 23.
