Emily Gundersen (Whitehall/Whitehall) will go down as one of the clutch performers in the history of the Albion College women's tennis program. Gundersen won the last match on the court - a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 decision over Michelle Busscher at fifth singles - to lift the Britons to a 5-4 victory over Calvin College at the Gainey Athletic Complex.
Albion defeated all eight of its Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association rivals during the regular season to secure the #1 seed for the league tournament which begins Friday. The Britons will meet Tri-State University in first round action at 8:30 a.m. inside the Ungrodt Tennis Center or on the courts outside the Dow Recreation & Wellness Center.
The Britons held a 2-1 lead after the doubles contests. In the first flight, Vic Seiter (Grosse Pointe Farms/Grosse Pointe South) and Shelley Zamler (Beverly Hills/Groves) upset the 14th ranked team in the region, Melissa Oosterhouse/Rachel Strikwerda, by an 8-5 score. Michelle Mulder (East Grand Rapids/East Grand Rapids) and Mara Rendina (Monroe/St. Mary Catholic Central) continued their fine play in the second flight with a 9-7 win over Kaitlin Spoelhof/Jill VanVeen.
Albion had to dig deep to post its singles wins. Zamler, the 30th ranked player in the region, fell into a 5-2 hole in the first set of her first flight match against Oosterhouse. Zamler fought back to post a 7-5, 6-2 victory. Zamler and Emily Gundersen were the only Britons to defeat all eight of their singles opponents in league play.
Anna Gundersen (Whitehall/Whitehall) posted Albion's most decisive singles victory in straight sets with a 6-2, 6-0 decision over VanVeen in the sixth flight. Anna Gundersen posted a 7-1 record against league rivals in singles.
