Washington University’s (11-3) 24th-ranked women’s tennis team pulled off a stunning upset Saturday, defeating 13th-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College (13-8) in the Midwest Regional Invite third-place match, culminating a weekend of solid play at the important midseason tournament.

“We came together and fought really hard,” Jaclyn Bild, a freshman, said. “This weekend gave us a lot of confidence and showed other teams that we were right there with them.”

In the 5-4 upset of Gustavus, freshman Karina Kocemba pulled out two close wins to lead the team to victory. She defeated Sierra Krebsbach 6-2, 4-6, 10-7 at second singles and then teamed with Bild to clinch the match with a 9-8 (7-4) victory at third doubles. Over the weekend, Kocemba compiled a 5-2 record.

“The match was very exciting. It all came down to the tiebreaker with Karina Kocemba,” sophomore Allison Dender said.

Bild, who had a 6-1 record this weekend, and classmates Kalee Cassady and Kristin Fleming notched the other wins in the Gustavus upset, winning at third, fifth and sixth singles, respectively.

The Bears began the weekend with an easy win over St. Mary’s University (11-4). Junior Erin Swaller, Dender and Fleming brought home wins at first, fourth and sixth singles, respectively, while Swaller and Cassady, Bild and Kocemba, and freshman Elise Sambol and junior Ania Tchergueiko swept doubles competition. Kocemba, Bild and Cassady were leading their singles matches, though the matches remained unfinished because the team had already clinched victory.

To close play Friday, the Red and Green upset No. 23 University of Chicago (9-5) 5-3, a UAA rival to whom the Bears lost 5-4 earlier in the season. Kocemba, Bild, Cassady and Sambol all notched fairly easy wins at second, third, fifth and sixth singles while Bild and Kocemba brought home the lone doubles victory at number three. Swaller suffered a close 2-6, 6-4, 11-9 loss to Chicago’s Marissa Lin, one of the top players in the Midwest, at number one singles.

“It was the most exciting moment of the tournament,” Bild said. “Just beating them was great. They are our biggest rival.”

Wash. U. suffered its only loss of the tournament in the semifinal match against No. 5 DePauw University (13-2). The team fell 5-3 after several close matches. Bild and Dender won in straight sets at third and fourth singles while Sambol pulled out a 3-6, 6-0, 10-4 win against Kristine Lewry at sixth singles. Cassady suffered a heartbreaking 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 10-5 loss at fifth singles. The Bears failed to pick up a single doubles win, though Swaller and Cassady were leading 6-5 in an unfinished match.

Wash. U. has little downtime, as they play Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Tuesday afternoon in Edwardsville, Ill., before returning home Saturday to play Coe College and Rhodes College. Play begins at 9 a.m. at the Tao Tennis Center against Coe and resumes at 3 p.m. versus Rhodes.

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