SPOKANE, Wash. – The Gonzaga women's tennis team is already underway — despite some early postponements — and the 2-0 Bulldogs are entering a stretch that will be pivotal for an experienced team looking to shake up the WCC.
 
Last spring's stunted season brought plenty of complications for a return to play, but one of them has turned out to the Zags' benefit in the form of a stacked senior class, bolstered by the return of seniors from last season granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA. This year's GU team returns every player from a team that went 8-6 in 2020 but never matched up with a conference opponent.
 
Haruna Tsuruta, a native of Fukuoka, Japan, was planning on returning there to work before the opportunity to simultaneously pursue a graduate degree and play another year of tennis presented itself. She closed out 2020 with a five-match win streak, finishing with a 12-8 record in singles.
 
"I'm so grateful about this," Tsuruta said. "COVID was obviously not a good thing, but for me, it gave me such a great opportunity to come back. So I really appreciate it. "
 
Same with Kate Ketels, who is returning as a grad student to cap off a GU career that already has her name all over the record books. When she learned of the opportunity to come back, she had gotten an apartment in Spokane within a week. Both are in the top six in program history in win percentage, and they've both started 2-0 so far this spring.
 
"I always kind of joked around my coaches, like, 'you're not going to be able to get rid of me like that easily,'" Ketels said. "Because I just love playing here, and playing tennis and competing."
 
Hannah Jones, a grad transfer from Utah State who was All-Mountain West in both singles and doubles is new face with high level experience for the Zags. She and true senior Taylor Gruber make up the rest of the Zags' veteran "senior" class, but returners Vlada Medvedcova and Cate Broerman all played significant roles last year as well.
 
Junior transfer Adrianna Sosnowska—from Lodz, Poland—along with freshmen Tiegan Aitken, of Canterbury, England, and Kianna Aida, the highest-ranked recruit of her class in the state of Hawaii, round out the rest of GU's newcomers.
 
In 2019, the last time the WCC held a conference season, the Zags finished third behind Pepperdine and San Diego with a 6-3 mark in conference play. Although a group of talented seniors departed that summer (including No. 1-ranked Sophie Whittle), the collective experience of this year's team looks to set its sights higher.
 
But as per usual, a nationally-ranked Pepperdine team stands in the way when conference play starts. Up to No. 5 in the latest poll, the Waves are expected to be the preseason favorite in the conference, and the Zags have yet to top them in 14 tries.
 
"We've been trying to beat them all the time since I've been here," Tsuruta said. "And this is my last year, so I want to win. I want to beat them so bad."
 
Before conference play begins, GU still has to wade through a particularly dense nonconference schedule that includes matchups with Pac-12 opponents in Oregon, Washington State (twice), Arizona and Washington — all of whom combined for 39 wins last season. WSU and UW finished second and third in the conference last spring, respectively.
 
It's just opportunities for us," Gurule said. "Every match we have is going to be amazing. We have some road trips that we're looking forward to. 
 
"There's a little bit of nerves there on the protocol and that kind of stuff. But I think ultimately we, we know we can do it."
 
In their first two duals of 2021, the Zags topped Eastern Washington 5-2 and swept Montana, both at home. Gurule said he has seen improvement even in the limited sample size, hoping that there's more to come.
 
"I think our team will only get better with more match play," Gurule said after the Montana match. "We are looking forward to hosting Oregon [Saturday]."
 
Gonzaga hosts the Ducks at Stevens Center on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 12 p.m. Live video and live stats are available at GoZags.com.