MADISON, Wis. – The No. 33 nationally ranked Gustavus Adolphus College women's tennis team battled the No. 55 Luther College Norse and the No. 34 Hope College Flying Dutch on Friday in the opening rounds of the Midwest Invite. The Gusties swept the Norse 7-0 and defeated the Flying Dutch 6-1 to advance to the championship match of the invitational.
Match One: No. 55 Luther
Karina Elvestrom and
Kaya De Bruijn opened the day with a 6-0 sweep of #1 doubles.
Molly Austin and
Lanie Davis followed with a 6-1 victory at #2 doubles to secure the team point for Gustavus.
Ella De Young and
Allison Szalay closed out the doubles competition with a 7-6 (10-4) win at #3.
Elvestrom put the Gusties up 2-0 with a 6-0, 6-1 win at #1 singles. Austin followed with a 6-2, 6-1 victory at #3 singles to give Gustavus a 3-0 lead. De Young secured the fourth point for the team victory with a 6-3, 6-1 win at #4 singles.
De Bruijn took #2 singles 7-6 (7-4), 6-2. Davis won #5 singles 6-0, 6-4.
Madison Packer closed out the team sweep for the Gusties with a 6-3, 6-3 victory at #6 singles.
Match Two: No. 34 Hope
Austin and Davis swept #2 doubles 6-0 to open the match. De Young and Szalay followed with a 6-1 win at #3 doubles to clinch the team point for Gustavus. Elvestrom and De Bruijn finished the doubles matches with a hard-fought 7-6 (10-5) victory at #1.
De Young took #5 singles 6-2, 6-2 for the second Gustie team point. Elvestrom followed with a 6-4, 6-2 win at #1 singles to put Gustavus up 3-0. De Bruijn secured the team victory for the Gusties by earning the fourth team point at #2 singles with a 6-3, 1-6, 1-0 (10-8) marathon win.
As with De Bruijn's win, the three remaining matches all went to third-set tiebreakers. Davis rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (7-1), 1-0 (10-3) victory at #6 singles. Austin then won 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-1) at #3 singles. The Flying Dutch took the #4 singles match to avoid the team sweep, though Gustavus still won 6-1.
Up Next
The Gusties will battle the Dennison University Big Red for the Midwest Invite Championship on Saturday, April 4 at 8:00 a.m. at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.
