Gonzaga University
SMU Invite Day 3
Two Zags Claim SMU Invite Bracket Titles
10/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
DALLAS--Two freshmen on the Gonzaga women's tennis team walked away bracket winners Sunday as Kate Ketels and Haruna Tsuruta each won their respective flight finals at the SMU Invite, hosted by Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
Both first-year Zags won their brackets with two-set victories in the final round. Ketels downed host school SMU's Ellie Zogg 6-4, 6-1 for the title, and Tsuruta breezed past Autumn Crossnoe of Abilene Christian 6-2, 6-2 for hers. Tsuruta has yet to drop a set after collecting three wins in straight sets this weekend; Ketels only lost one set during day one of the three-day tournament.
This is the third consecutive season that a Bulldog has reached a bracket final in her first collegiate tournament. In 2014, Alex Bourguignon reached a final of the WSU Cougar Classic in September, and Sophie Whittle did so in the same tournament last year as well. Neither, however, won their final match.
Three more Zags lost in their bracket championship Sunday. Both Whittle and Nevada Apollo went to three sets with their foes but fell in the deciding third, and Graciela Rosas lost in two despite forcing a tiebreak in her first frame. Two more Zags - Bourguignon and Katie Day - fell in their consolation bracket championships to end the SMU Invite.
All four GU doubles teams were in action Sunday, and Tsuruta and Day walked away as winners as they downed ACU's Jordan Henry and Elizabeth Ryan 6-4. The freshman duo finished 2-1 on the weekend in the tournament's doubles pool. Two Gonzaga pairs - Domonique Garley/Ketels and Bourguignon/Rosas - fell in main bracket championships and also posted a 2-1 record in Dallas, while Whittle and Apollo lost their consolation final.
Gonzaga women's tennis will return to action in two weeks as the Bulldogs compete at the ITA Northwest Regionals. That regional championship tournament will run Oct. 21-24 in Palo Alto, Calif.
Singles - Main Bracket Championships
Elizaveta Buss def. Sophie Whittle (Gonzaga) 6-7, 6-3, 6-2
Tsveta Dimitrova (Houston) def. Nevada Apollo (Gonzaga) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
Jessica Birowski (UT Arlington) def. Graciela Rosas (Gonzaga) 7-6, 6-3
Kate Ketels (Gonzaga) def. Ellie Zogg (SMU) 6-4, 6-1
Haruna Tsuruta (Gonzaga) def. Autumn Crossnoe (ACU) 6-2, 6-2
Singles - Consolation Championships
Charline Anselmo (SMU) def. Alex Bourguignon (Gonzaga) 6-2, 7-5
Judit Gargallo (Nichols State) def. Katie Day (Gonzaga) 7-6, 2-6, 6-3
Singles - Consolation
Lucile Pothier (ACU) def. Domonique Garley (Gonzaga) 6-2, 7-6
Doubles - Main Bracket Championships
Tokar/Tormos (Marquette) def. Garley/Ketels (Gonzaga) 7-5
Cirnu/Bago (Kansas State) def. Bourguignon/Rosas (Gonzaga) 6-4
Doubles - Round Robin
Tsuruta/Day (Gonzaga) def. Henry/Ryan (ACU) 6-4
Doubles - Consolation Championships
Gehre/Birowski (UT Arlington) def. Whittle/Apollo (Gonzaga) 7-6
