Gonzaga University
St. Mary's Classic
Freshmen Pace Zags On Day 1 At SMC Classic
10/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Oct. 17, 2009
MORAGA, Calif. - The Gonzaga University women's tennis team opened play at the Saint Mary's Classic Friday. The Bulldogs were led by the freshman tandem of Britta Stime and Gabriel Verspieren who advanced to Saturday's second round of play with an opening round 8-6 upset win over the fourth seeded doubles pairing out of the University of Portland.
Stime and Verspieren also produced wins in their respective singles matches as Stime advanced to Saturday's round of 16 in the Singles Blue bracket after posting two wins Friday. Stime recorded a 6-2, 6-0 first round victory before posting an equally impressive 6-2, 6-2 second round win. recorded a 6-3 6-1 opening round win before dropping her second round match later in the day.
"I was very impressed with how Britta and Gabby played today," commented head coach D.J. Gurule. "Rika bounced back from a tough loss earlier in the day but beat a very solid player from Fresno State later in the day."
Later in the afternoon, top singles player Rika Mehndiratta rebounded from an early round loss to post an impressive 6-2, 6-4 win over Melissa McQueen in a Consolation round match.
Tournament play continues Saturday before wrapping up Sunday.
Note: Due to a power outage from storms earlier in the week, there was no electricity on parts of the St. Mary's campus. Once darkness fell, we were forced to move unfinished matches to a nearby club, and the tournament gratefully acknowledges the late evening hospitality of the Moraga Country Club, where we were invited to move the final matches under their lights. (It was also impossible to get any results into the tournament file to release to the schools, as tournament matches spanned a 12-hour period without access to electricity, including an internet connection.)
