Sept. 17, 2009
SPOKANE, Wash. - The Gonzaga University women's tennis team begins its fall season at the Cougar Classic hosted by Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. this weekend. Play gets underway 9 a.m. Friday morning and will run through Sunday afternoon.
The Bulldogs return seven players from last year's squad led by All-West Coast Conference performers Rika Mehndiratta and Kristina Zauere. Zauere is coming off a record-setting freshman campaign that saw her earn All-WCC second team honors after she posted a school record 17-5 singles mark last season. Mehndiratta finished last season with a team second-best 13 victories while playing most of the season at No. 2 singles.
"We are looking for Rika and Kristina to both serve as big time leaders as well as produce big seasons for us this year," commented sixth year head coach D.J. Gurule. "Those two proved last season that they are two of the better players in the conference and that they can make everybody on our team play at a high level."
Other veteran returners in Clare Dodge and Danielle Farmer also return and will be important pieces to the Zags success this season. Dodge finished third on the team with 10 singles wins last year while Farmer finished with seven singles wins along with a team-best six wins at No. 2 doubles with Mehndiratta.
Four newcomers are set to begin their first season with the Zags led by Cleveland State University transfer Jackie Tabb who will look to make an immediate impact after leading CSU with 11 victories at No. 1 singles a year ago. Other newcomers in Taurie Bjerken, Britta Stime and Gabrielle Verspieren will also look to contribute for the Bulldogs during their freshman campaigns.
"I am very excited for us to get out and compete against some of the better teams in our region," commented Gurule. "We have a good mix of returners that own a good amount of experience and mesh well with some of our young players that have had a couple good weeks of practice. This weekend will be a good opportunity for our freshman to get out and get some experience against some quality opponents."
Along with WSU, Boise State University, University of Montana, University of Idaho and WCC member University of Portland will each have players competing this weekend.
Gonzaga's other fall tournaments will be the GU/EWU Fall Tournament held in Cheney, Wash. Sept. 25-27, the St. Mary's Classic in Moraga, Calif. Oct. 16-18 and the ITA Regional's held in Palo Alto, Calif. Oct. 23-24.
