ST. PETER, Minn. – The No. 30-ranked Carleton College women's tennis team dropped a 4-3 decision to host No. 21 Gustavus Adolphus College in the MIAC Playoffs Championship match. The back-and-forth battle marked the fourth consecutive year and 10th time since 2007 that these two programs clashed in the finals of the conference tournament.
"Today we finished the season in a bittersweet way," said Carleton head coach
Luciano Battaglini. "We're happy to be able to have another successful season and a tough loss to a very competitive team. It was great to see the team playing hard and representing Carleton well. Congrats to Gustavus for trying their best and deserving to win the MIAC championship."
Gustavus (25-8) ended Carleton's (15-4) three-year run as MIAC champions. These two programs have won 16 of 18 conference tournaments since the MIAC moved to the current format in 2007, and they have accounted for 29 of 36 berths in the championships over that time.
The Gusties picked up the doubles team point on Saturday after winning the best-of-three series. Molly Austin and Elena Davis notched a 6-1 win over
Ingrid Smith and
Ryann Witter at No. 2 doubles, and Ella De Young and Allison Szalay posted a 6-3 victory over
Amanda Black and
Kat Smiricinschi at the third slot.
Carleton's top tandem of
Amelia Asfaw and
Mariam Nechiporuk led Gustavus' nationally-ranked duo of Kaya DeBruijn and Karina Elvestrom, 4-3, at No. 1 doubles when play was halted because the doubles team point was already determined.
Gustavus widened its lead to 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-1 victory at No. 3 singles as Austin defeated
Miriam Shteyman
Senior
Piper Brown got Carleton on the scoreboard with a comeback win at No. 6 singles. She trailed 4-1 in the opening set, but won 12 of the next 13 games against Brooke Haddorff to secure a 7-5, 6-0 victory. It was Brown's seventh consecutive victory and improved her season ledger to 13-2 overall.
The other four singles matches went the distance, with Carleton adding to the drama by dropping the opening set in three of those contests.
Asfaw knotted the match at 2-2 with a three-set win over Elvestrom at No. 1 singles, bouncing back for a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory in a matchup of regionally-ranked players. This was Asfaw's 10th consecutive win as she moved to 15-3 on the year.
Ryann Witter gave Carleton a 3-2 lead as she rallied for a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 5 singles. She wraps up the season 14-3 in solo play, the second-best record on the roster.
Davis leveled the team score at 3-3 after prevailing 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in a see-saw battle with
Kiley Pickens at No. 4 singles.
That left the team result to be determined by the outcome at No. 2 singles. Nechiporuk captured the first set, but this time it was the Gusties who came from behind as De Bruijn's 4-6 6-3, 6-2 win gave Gustavus its first playoff title since 2018.
Carleton's seven-member senior class — Asfaw, Black, Brown, Nechiporuk,
Zoe Rose, Shteyman, and Smith — have led the Knights to an astonishing 70-8 (.897) dual match record over their four years playing for the maize and blue. Each of those setbacks came against nationally-ranked competition.
Career Record for members of the 2024-25 Carleton Women's Tennis Team
