Zachary Tlusty-
The Men’s Tennis team played two games on the 6th: losing to #6 Chicago 2-7 and beating Saint John’s 9-0. Last weekend, April 5th and 6th, The Women’s Tennis team was invited to the Midwest Invite in Madison, Wisconsin. During the weekend, they played multiple nationally ranked opponents and went 1-2 in those matches while also sending a team to play UM-Duluth.
In Chicago, another team of Gusties faced regional rival and nationally-ranked #6, UChicago. Unfortunately, the Gusties were bested by the Maroons, 7-2.
Sophomore Caleb Fridinger and Freshman Dominik Knutson picked up the only doubles point for Gustavus, winning 8-6 in the #3 doubles match. The other two doubles matches went to tiebreakers, with Chicago claiming both over Gustie pairs Sophomores Gage Gohl/Tyler Haddorff and Juniors Marco Siviero/Josh Christensen.
In singles play, Gohl won for the Gusties at #3, claiming a 7-6, 6-0 victory over Arjun Asokumar, who is ranked 15th in the region in singles play. Chicago claimed four of the five remaining singles points in two sets.
Despite the loss, Siviero was able to look at the positives for the team moving forward “I think we are making good progress on many fronts. We are playing aggressive and dictating the way the match goes in doubles, and our posture between points is very positive. For the future matches, I believe improving our serving and returning, and placing the first volleys (in doubles) and the first shot (in singles) effectively so we can apply more pressure and force more errors,” Siviero said.
Against Saint John’s, the pairs of Seniors Oscar Wikström and Geoffrey Youngs as well as Sophomore Ali Derbani and Junior Odin Fouchier won both of their doubles matches 8-2. Senior Luke Fridinger and Junior Taona Mhwandagara won 8-6 at #1 doubles.
Gustavus then went on and won all singles matches in two sets. Derbani claimed his victory at #5 with a pair of dominant 6-1 wins. Mhwandagara won 6-2 and 6-0 at #1, while Fridinger and Youngs won #2 and #3 in a combination of 6-2 and 6-3 wins. Wikström claimed his win at #3 6-3, 6-1, while Fouchier closed the match out with a pair of 6-4 wins at #6.
Gustavus will be sending a team out to play at Hamline and keep a team back to defend the bubble against Augustana this Saturday. The team has been great in the MIAC with a 5-0 record and a 7-1 home record. With a total overall record of 15-7.
“The bubble is our home, it is our house, we are not letting anyone take our house. This is the feeling we have. Court advantage is big for us and we know how special and fun matches at the bubble are, which gives us extra gear and focus to perform. Winning the MIAC is one of our main goals, and we are determined to defend our house and achieve this goal,” Siviero said.
The women started their invite by beating #32 Hope College by a score of 5-4. The Gusties won four of their five points in the singles to defeat the Flying Dutch.
Hope initially took a 2-1 lead after the doubles, winning 8-3 at #1 over Sophomores Molly Austin and Allison Szalay and winning 8-7 over Senior Alli Laux and Junior Brooke Haddorff. However, the Gusties made a strong comeback with the team of Sophomore Kaya De Bruijn and Freshman Bethany Smith, picking up the first win of the day and securing an 8-6 victory at #3 doubles.
Gustavus dominated singles play, dropping only #1 and #2 singles to the Flying Dutch. Austin, De Bruijn, Ella De Young, and Haddorff won in singles #3 through #6, respectively, claiming all four victories in two sets. Their great singles play won them the match over Hope, 5-4.
Next, Gustavus took on #7 Washington University, sadly losing 1-8. The Gusties opened the second round of the tournament with a tall order ahead of them, facing the second-ranked team in the region and the seventh-ranked team in the nation in Wash U. Laux and Sophomore Pavla Yakimova claimed the only point of the match for the Gusties in the #3 doubles, winning 8-6.
For the last match of the invite, the Gusties were tasked with matching up against #25 Grinnell. The Gusties could only muster up two points, and lost by a score of 2-7.
Grinnell took a 2-1 lead after the doubles, with the Gusties’ only win again coming from Laux and Yakimova, this time at #2 doubles. The duo won 8-3. In singles play, Ella De Young claimed the second point of the match for the Gusties, winning at #6 singles, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.
The women also sent a team up north out to play UM-Duluth while their teammates were playing nationally-ranked competitors in Madison, the Gusties sent another group up to Duluth to face the UMD Bulldogs. Duluth just barely got the better of the Gusties, winning 4-3.
In doubles play, Sophomores Ashley Stroebel and Taylor Ruhl won at #3 6-1, but Duluth claimed the doubles point with wins at #1 and #2.
Both teams battled closely in the singles matches. Sophomore Madison Packer took #2 with two 6-2 victories. First-year Veranique Poquette added another win at #5 (6-1, 6-1), before First-year Annie Klemmensen claimed the final singles point for the Gusties at #6, winning 6-3 and 6-1.
The Gusties, now 8-9 overall, return to conference play next week, facing both Hamline and St. Catherine on Sunday in St. Paul.