Zags Start Strong at ITA Northwest Regionals
10/11/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
PALO ALTO, Calif.—Three Gonzaga University women's tennis players started their second tournament of the 2014-15 season Friday, playing the first two rounds of the ITA Northwest Regionals at Taube Family Tennis Stadium in Palo Alto, Calif.
"The girls competed extremely well today," said assistant coach Caroline Lilley. "We had some tough Pac-12 opponents in the first round, and it was encouraging to see the team buying into playing aggressive tennis with margin [aggressive play while working to limit unforced errors]."
Samantha Polayes advanced to the Round of 32 with a pair of two-set wins. She breezed through Oregon's Lina Akesson by a score of 6-0, 6-3. Her second round match was a bit tougher as both sets went into a tiebreak, but Polayes held on for the two set victory over Jessie Lee of UC Davis 7-6(2), 7-6(3). She'll face Stanford's Taylor Davidson, the tournament's seven seed, in the third round Saturday.
Also tallying a singles win Friday, Alex Bourguignon took on Washington's Sophia Bott in the first round. The Zag freshman won in consecutive 6-2 sets for the fifth win of her young collegiate career. In the Round of 64, Bourguignon ran into fifth-seeded Maegan Manasse from Cal. The Golden Bear won the match 6-2, 6-1 and advanced in place of the Gonzaga youngster.
Wrapping up singles play for the Zags, Franziska Koehler squared off Nastia Vasyukhina of Washington State in her first match of the season. Vasyukhina took the first set 6-4, but Koehler battled back in the second set, winning that 2-6 to force a deciding third set. The Cougar prevailed in the final set 6-1, however, and advanced on to the next round.
In addition to their singles matches, Polayes and Bourguignon also took part in the doubles bracket at the ITA Northwest Regionals. They started the competition taking on Zoe Oederkerk and Emily Gibbens of Cal Poly. The Zag duo fell in that match 8-3, however, and will now take part in doubles consolation play for the rest of the weekend.
"This tournament is a great opportunity for development and today the girls executed under pressure and were pushed outside of their competitive zones," said Lilley. "We faced some adversity in all our matches and we are gaining valuable experience competing at the highest level."
All three Zags will continue to gain experience on day two of the ITA Northwest Regionals. Polayes will begin her Round of 32 contest at 10:00 a.m., while Bourguignon and Koehler will both see consolation bracket action throughout the day, again at Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
