Women's Tennis Jordan Modjeski, Gustavus Adolphus College Sports Information Department

Gusties' Kaya De Bruijn selected as CSC Academic All-American

CSC Release

SAINT PETER, Minn. – Gustavus women's tennis junior Kaya De Bruijn (Maasland, Netherlands/Stedelijk Gymnasium) was named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America third team on Tuesday, June 3. 

Academic All-District and Academic All-America nominees must be of a sophomore academic standing or better, with a 3.50 GPA or higher. The Academic All-District and All-America teams are voted on and selected by registered members of CSC.

A geology and environmental studies double major with a 4.0 GPA, De Bruijn is a two-time CSC Academic All-District selection, is expected to earn her second Academic All-MIAC honor (minimum 3.5 GPA), and earned her first MIAC Elite 22 Award this season for having the highest cumulative GPA among student-athletes who competed in the six-team MIAC Playoffs. 

On the court, De Bruijn helped lead the tennis team to one of its most successful seasons in the last seven years, collecting Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-America honors in the fall as the team swept the Midwest Regional Championships and earning a bid to the NCAA Individual Tournament alongside doubles partner Karina Elvestrom (Minnetonka, Minn.). 

She and Elvestrom were named the MIAC Doubles Team of the Year after compiling the best doubles record in the conference, going a perfect 9-0 against MIAC opponents. In their first season playing together, the duo was ranked as high as No. 12 in the country and ended the regular season at No. 24. They fell in the first round of the individual tournament to the second-seeded and top-ranked doubles team from Middlebury (Vt.), Nina Farhat and Sahana Raman, who finished as the eventual national runners-up. 

De Bruijn and Elvestrom ended the season 25-8 overall and 19-6 in dual play. They finished the dual season on a 10-match win streak, including a victory over the No. 1 team from UChicago in the regional championship to clinch the doubles point with a 7-5 victory. In addition to her half of the Doubles Team of the Year Award, De Bruijn also collected All-MIAC honors in both singles and doubles, was named to the All-Playoff Team, and earned Athlete of the Week honors three times during the season.

In singles play, the Maasland, Netherlands native compiled a record of 17-8 in dual matches, going 16-7 (7-0 MIAC) from the No. 2 spot with her only conference loss to nationally-ranked Kelsey Dorr of St. Catherine at No. 1. Overall, De Bruijn went 19-9 in singles play, tied for the second-most wins among the team. She won eight of her last nine singles matches, two of which clinched MIAC championships for the Gusties over Carleton in both the playoffs and regular season, and was leading against UChicago's No. 2 when play halted in the NCAA tournament match. 

She is the fourth Gustie women's tennis student-athlete and sixth overall to be named an Academic All-American:

2000-01 - Ellen Anderson (third team)
2001-02 - Ellen Anderson (first team)
2010-11 - Samantha Frank (third team)
2016-17 - Katie Aney (second team)
2017-18 - Katie Aney (first team)
2024-25 - Kaya De Bruijn (third team)

The women's tennis team (27-8, 10-0 MIAC) won its 31st MIAC regular-season championship and earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament with a 4-3 win over Carleton May 3 for the program's ninth MIAC Playoff Championship (first since 2018). The national postseason appearance was the 27th for the Gusties, who fell to No. 1 UChicago in the NCAA regional championship after a second round victory and first round bye.

Gustavus swept the ITA Midwest Regionals for the first time since 2010 and qualified a pair of athletes to the NCAA Individual Championships. Head coach Jon Carlson '88 became the first women's coach to reach 700 career wins in the history of NCAA Division III tennis, while the team captured three of five major MIAC awards, as well as seven All-Conference honors and three All-America distinctions.