March 25, 2016 Box Score
SPOKANE, Wash.--Conference play began with a statement for Gonzaga's women's tennis team Friday as the Bulldogs came back to beat San Diego 4-2 at The Stevens Center in Spokane.
Gonzaga fell behind early in the dual after San Diego won the doubles point to begin the match. At No. 2 doubles, Alex Bourguignon and Melanie Yates posted a 6-3 win, but the Toreros responded by taking the other two pairs contests for the early point.
Once singles play started, the Zags bounced back, taking control of the match. At No. 2 singles, senior Samantha Polayes picked up the first point for Gonzaga, taking down Drew Spinosa in straight sets. She doubled up the Torero during the first frame and took the second by a break for the 6-3, 6-4 win, her seventh of the dual season.
The bottom of the GU lineup then put the Zags on the break of victory as Graciela Rosas and Domonique Garley each won their 10th match in a row. Rosas started her two-setter by doubling up Colomba DiFilippo, taking the first set 6-3. In the second, DiFilippo forced a tiebreak, but the freshman from Mexicali, Mexico, took those extra points for the victory. Rosas now has 11 wins in dual play this season, the most on the team and tied for the most among WCC freshmen.
Garley, meanwhile, went three sets with her foe, Sophia Chow. Chow took the first 4-6, but Garley responded in kind, evening the contest with a 6-4 win of her own in the second set. In the third, Garley once again beat Chow by a break, taking the match 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. She now has 10 singles wins during the dual season.
San Diego then got its second point of the day when Bourguignon lost a hard-fought three-setter. In the first set, she forced an extra game before falling 7-5 but bounced back win the second set 4-6. In the third, however, opponent Maria-Paula Torres pulled away for a 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 win.
Atop the lineup, Sophie Whittle clinched the win for Gonzaga, winning a tight contest against Marta Stojanovic. The freshman from Nipomo, Calif., took the first set via an extra game at 7-5, but Stojanovic countered with a 4-6 win in set No. 2. The third and deciding set once again saw an extra game, and Whittle once again won that for Gonzaga's fourth point of the day.
In the third singles spot, Nevada Apollo held a one-game lead over Dana Oppinger in their third set when that match was halted due to Gonzaga clinching the dual win.
"I'm really proud of the team. The way we responded from dropping the doubles point was huge.," said Gonzaga head coach D.J. Gurule. "Today was definitely a team win; everyone played a crucial part in the match."
That dual win extends the Bulldogs' win streak to 10 matches, a stretch that started Jan. 29 vs. Montana. Friday's contest was GU's first WCC contest of the year, however, as they played the entirety of their non-conference schedule before beginning league play.
Gonzaga (11-1, 1-0 WCC) will continue its first conference weekend of the year with a match against BYU Saturday, March 26. That match will begin at 11:00 a.m., again at The Stevens Center.
