CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University women's tennis squad gears up to take on the Gonzaga Bulldogs for a second time this season this Wednesday, March 3 at 5 p.m. Pacific time in Spokane Wash. The Eagles will have one full day to rest before returning to the court for a home match against Seattle University on Friday, March 5 at 5 p.m. Pacific time at the Jim Thorpe Fieldhouse in Cheney, Wash.
"We have a great opportunity this week to play against two tough instate Division I schools. We saw Gonzaga earlier this season in our first match of the year. I look for us to improve upon our performances from the first time around," said head coach
Dustin Hinson. "We always have a great battle with Seattle every year and I expect nothing different this time around, that's the kind of match we want at this point in the season."
Eastern faced Gonzaga in its first match of the new 2021 spring season and dropped the decision 5-2 in Spokane, Wash. The Eagles found some success during the match defeating GU 2-1 in doubles play but could not respond in singles play as
Renata Gabuzyan picked up the solo point for EWU, earning Big Sky Player of the Week for her efforts.
"We want to be pushed and we want to feel the kind of pressure we will feel in our upcoming conference matches. The more match experience we get, the better we can be at stepping up in those tough match situations," Hinson stated. "Ultimately, we are looking to get better this week and we look forward to facing the challenges ahead."
The Eagles currently have a 19-44 all-time series record versus Gonzaga and will look to snap a 15-match losing streak to the Bulldogs on Wednesday. EWU's last win over GU dates back to February of 2008 where the Eagles defeated the Bulldogs 5-2 in Spokane, Wash.
Gonzaga is led by head coach D.J. Gurule who enters his 16th season at the helm. Gurule currently leads his team to an overall winning record of 5-3.
Eastern holds an all-time series record of 12-8 versus Seattle and are currently on a three-match winning streak after defeating the Redhawks in the past three years on the road. EWU's last defeat to Seattle dates back to February of 2017 at home. The Eagles have struggled at home against the Redhawks however as they have a 3-7 home record against SU.
The Redhawks are led by Kristina Hollander who enters her first season at the helm. SU has yet to find victory this season as they currently have an 0-5 overall record after falling to Washington twice, Portland State, Brigham Young and Oregon, respectively.
Following the two matches, the Eagles take on Arizona on Tuesday, March 16. The match is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. Pacific time in Pullman, Wash.
