After starting the spring season with a pair of 5-2 victories, the Gonzaga University women’s tennis team couldn’t carry over its momentum to Sunday’s match against Cal Poly (2-0) at the Stevens Center.
Cal Poly defeated GU 6-1 in a competition that lasted three hours but was decided long before the final match wrapped up on court six.
The Mustangs claimed their first point of the day after winning two doubles matches. Cal Poly’s Delanie Dunkle and Peyton Dunkle took down GU’s Emily Robertson and Kianna Oda 6-1, and Melissa LaMette and Romane Mosse notched a 6-3 victory for the Mustangs over Tiegan Aitken and Ella Nielsen.
Cal Poly continued its dominance in singles play, winning five of the six matches. Three of the team’s victories were secured in straight sets.
The Mustangs captured their first singles win on court three, where Peyton Dunkle defeated Aitken by scores of 6-4 and 6-2. On court five, Mosse secured another victory for the Mustangs after winning both sets 6-3 against GU’s Caroline Wernli.
The next match to finish was a battle on court four that ended in a two-set win for Cal Poly’s Kennedy Buntrock over GU’s Ella Nielsen. Buntrock quickly took the first set 6-2 before pulling off a 6-4 victory in a much more competitive second set against Nielsen.
Courts two and six saw the only three-set matches of the afternoon, but GU’s Oda and Lia Espinal were unable to overcome first-set losses against Cal Poly’s Lamette and Alexandra Ozerets, respectively.
GU’s only win in singles play happened on court one, where Robertson defeated Delanie Dunkle in straight sets. Robertson, a freshman, outscored her fifth-year opponent 6-2 in both sets.
“I just kind of had to put the doubles match in the past and just focus on my singles and I was able to do that pretty well and focus on what I could control,” Robertson said. “I played pretty well, so I’m happy with it.”
As the No. 1 player for GU, Robertson is accustomed to facing the opposing team’s toughest competitor. The Southern California native has a 2-1 record in singles play this spring.
“It’s definitely something I think about,” Robertson said about being in the No. 1 spot. “It’s a lot of good opportunities to play a lot of good people, so I just try to look at it that way. It can make me a bit nervous at times, but I just try to focus on what I can and not get overwhelmed by it and just play my game.”
Despite the Zags suffering their most lopsided loss of the spring season, third-year head coach Natalie Pluskota-Hamberg was proud of the way her team competed.
“We came out and competed pretty well,” Pluskota-Hamberg said. “We’ve got to get better in some areas, but this team has a lot of grit and that’s what we’ve seen these last two weekends. There were some tough matches today, but Cal Poly did a really good job executing.”
Prior to Sunday’s loss, GU took down Georgetown on the road and Montana at home.
“I’d say we’re trending in the right direction,” Pluskota-Hamberg said. “We’re in a good spot. We’ve been competitive in matches that we need to be and we got a good road win to start the season off, but obviously we want to keep getting better.”
The Zags have nearly a week off from competition before traveling to Washington in Seattle on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Huskies, who also get a weeklong break in between matches, have a 3-0 record and are ranked No. 24 in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
Much of the preparation for Washington will focus on conditioning, according to Pluskota-Hamberg, who wants to ensure each of her players are ready to compete at the highest level.
“We’re spending a lot of time just making sure that our bodies are in the right spots, so that we can maximize our training,” Pluskota-Hamberg said. “The next couple of days, we’re gonna spend a lot of time doing that kind of stuff.”