EWU Fall Classic Draws | Gonzaga Notes

HAPPY NEW YEAR!:

• Gonzaga begins the 2016-17 season this weekend at the EWU Fall Classic...the Zags return three players from the 2016 spring season: Ronzai Saurombe, Emilio Moreno, and Ruadhan O'Sullivan...Saurombe is the team's lone senior -- and upperclassman -- while Moreno and O'Sullivan are entering their sophomore seasons.
• O'Sullivan led the Zags with a 13-7 dual singles record last year after joining the team over winter break...Moreno went 6-9 while playing Nos. 4, 5, and 6 in the lineup, and Saurombe went 2-10 after missing a few weeks from injury...Moreno and O'Sullivan paired together in doubles play, winning five matches on court No. 2.
• To fill out the lineup, the Zags added four incoming freshmen to the squad: Kyle Everly, Sam Feit, Simon Homedes Dualde, and Vincent Rettke...altogether, the class was ranked No. 22 on TennisRecruiting.net's Top 25 mid-major recruiting poll...they make up the first nationally-recognized class for Gonzaga since 2006.

ENJOYING THE CLASSICS:

• 2016 marks the 12th consecutive season the Zags have played at the EWU Fall Classic and the various names the tournament has held in the past...it's been Gonzaga's fall season-opener for 10 seasons and every year since 2008...GU was a title host of the competition in 2005, 2007, and 2008, but all matches were played in Cheney.
• The Bulldogs won two brackets in last year's tournament as then-senior Vicente Varas won the Black Singles bracket while Hayden Smith and Jordan Smith took the doubles flight...of the current Zags, Ronzai Saurombe went 2-1 in singles while Emilio Moreno won his only individual match...the two went 1-1 in the doubles bracket.

PLANNING AHEAD:

• The Zags have five tournaments on the fall slate this year...after the EWU Fall Classic, part of the squad will head to Davis, California, for UC Davis' Aggie Invitational (Sept. 30-Oct. 2)...two weeks after that, GU will compete in the ITA Northwest Regionals, held this year at Berkeley, Calif....last season, all six Bulldogs on the fall roster competed in the Regional championship.
• Gonzaga will once again host a fall tournament, welcoming regional squads to The Stevens Center for the Bulldog Classic...the third-year tournament will run Oct. 28-30...the Zags have shown well at home since The Stevens Center opened in 2014, going 17-14 in dual matches and winning well over 50% of all singles and doubles contests played...the Bulldogs are 120-97 in singles play (.553) at Stevens, and that percentage rises to .598 (61-41) in doubles play...Ruadhan O'Sullivan is undefeated at home, going 8-0 during the spring dual season last year.
• The Bulldogs will wrap up the fall season with another split-squad tournament, the Oregon's Duck Invitational Nov. 11-14 in Eugene.

PLANTING SEEDS:

• The Zags have five seeded players at this week's EWU Fall Classic...Ruadhan O'Sullivan is the second seed during the Red Singles bracket, the top individual flight...Emilio Moreno is second and Kyle Everly third in the Black Singles flight...Ronzai Saurombe and Vincent Rettke make up the No. 3 doubles team, and O'Sullivan/Simon Homedes Dualde are No. 4.

ZAGS ON THE COURT THIS WEEK: