By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PETER, Minn. — Several members of the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's tennis team will be taking part in the ITA Midwest Regional Championships and Gustie Fall Invitational, hosted by Gustavus, beginning Friday and running through Sunday.

ITA Midwest Regional Field:
Bethel, Carleton, Carroll, Carthage, Central, Coe, Concordia-Moorhead, Concordia-Wisconsin, Cornell, Edgewood, Grinnell, Gustavus, Hamline, Luther, Macalester, Northwestern-St. Paul, Simpson, St. Catherine, Saint Mary's, St. Norbert, St. Olaf, St. Scholastica, St. Thomas, Wartburg, UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, UW-Oshkosh, and UW-Whitewater.

USTA-ITA Midwest Region Draws:
• Singles | Doubles
 
Gustie Fall Invite Draws:
• Singles | Doubles
 
ITA Midwest Region Sites:
• The Swanson Indoor Tennis Center, located on the west edge of the Gustavus campus in St. Peter, Minn., will serve as headquarters for the USTA/ITA Midwest Region Championships, with matches taking place at Swanson and the adjacent Brown Outdoor Courts.

ITA Midwest Region This And That:
• The singles and doubles champions from the ITA Regional Championships will advance to the ITA National Small College Championships. The ITA National Small College Championships are comprised of the eight regional champions (and/or at-large selections) from NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA, and junior/community colleges. Over 8,000 student-athletes from NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA, Junior and Community Colleges compete at one of the 84 USTA/ITA Regional Championships held across the country.
 
The ITA National Small College Championships began in 1986 and annually crowns men's and women's singles and doubles national champions in each of the ITA's four small college divisions (NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community College). The ITA National Small College Championship is the only national championship event for singles and doubles at the NCAA Division II and NAIA levels. It is also the only tournament that combines all levels of Junior/Community College (NJCAA Divisions I and III and the California division). The singles and doubles champions at each divisional level will then compete to become the overall "Super Bowl" champions. The "Super Bowl" champions earn wild cards into the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships with the opportunity to win the culminating event held at the USTA-Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
 
Cardinals at USTA-ITA Midwest Region—A Year Ago:
• September 23-24, 2017: Colleen Lois (Green Bay, Wis.) kicked off her collegiate career as a Cardinal with five straight victories—winning all three of her singles matches in the Gustavus Fall Invitational, while teaming with Laura Sonday (West St. Paul, Minn.) for a pair of doubles wins at the ITA/Oracle Midwest Region Tournament. Lois suffered the first singles loss of her collegiate career with a three-set, 4-6, 6-3, 10-3 setback to St. Catherine's Ella Graham, while Gustavus' Katie Aney/Bri Hartmann dealt Lois/Sonday an 8-4 setback in doubles | Day 1 Recap * Day 2 Recap
 
Cardinals Up Next:
• The Cardinals kick off their 2018 spring season on Jan. 25, hosting Martin Luther in a 6 p.m. nonconference match at the Winona Tennis Center. Saint Mary's opens Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Feb. 9, heading to St. Peter, Minn., for a showdown against Gustavus.