Senior Hanley Caras, Zags End Regular Season With Win
4/19/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
SPOKANE, Wash. - Saturday wasn't so much about Gonzaga University women's tennis as it was about senior Hanley Caras.
Sidelined the entire spring season with a shoulder injury, she returned to action for the first - and last - time this spring to help the Bulldogs (9-9) down Lewis-Clark State College 7-0 at the Stevens Center on Senior Day.
Fittingly, her match on Kermit Rudolf Family Court (a.k.a. Court 1) was the last one to finish as Caras downed Alicia Parellada 6-2, 6-3.
"She's been through a lot, not just this year but through her four years," a smiling head coach D.J. Gurule said. "As we look back on her freshman year to this year she's grown a lot, obviously, as a person, but really as a competitor and a person that's overcome a lot of things. We're happy for her to end her career here at home with a win and it definitely makes us feel like all the work she's put in has paid off."
Gurule said Saturday's match provided an opportunity for the Bulldogs to work on some things heading into the West Coast Conference Championship which begins Wednesday in San Diego, Calif.
"LCSC is special for me. I played against Kai (head coach Fong) a long, long time ago. We love having him back and thankful for him making the trip up here," Gurule said. "It was a match for us to work on some things. There are some things we didn't really like we did today and some things we really do like. We'll take the day off tomorrow and then go back to work Monday."
The Bulldogs swept all three singles to earn the singles point, then swept through singles in straight sets to wrap up the match.
The Bulldogs, who lost a 4-3 WCC contest to 57th-ranked BYU Friday, came back with a vengeance on Saturday, and the effort both days pleased Gurule.
"We really focus on trying to compete, compete for every point, compete for every game, every set, every match. We preach to our team when we compete we don't worry about the outcomes; the outcomes dictate themselves," Gurule noted. "BYU is a very, very good team. To come up just a hair short isn't disheartening, but it gives us that feeling we know we have room to grow and if we can compete at this level for a longer period of time we'll get there."
Gurule said it's hard to say where the Bulldogs are as they enter the WCC Championship.
"We're a little banged up for sure, but Jen (trainer Jennifer Nyland) is doing a great job putting us together. I think we're ready to compete. Whoever we end up playing Wednesday we'll battle and compete for every point; that's what our thing is. We won't look back on the season until it's done and think about that. We're thinking about tomorrow and how to get better," Gurule said.
Gonzaga 7, Lewis-Clark State 0
Singles (Order of finish 2-3-1-5-4-6)
1. Kylie Peek (GU d. Rye Hewett 6-3, 6-0
2. Katie Edwards (G) d. Florencia Martina 6-2, 6-0
3. Samantha Polayes (G) d. Deanri Human 6-1, 6-1
4. Franziska Koehler (G) d. Lauren Lang 6-0, 6-2
5. Isabell Klingert (G) d. Netti Dayhuff 6-0, 6-0
6. Hanley Caras (G) d. Alicia Parellada 6-2, 6-3
Doubles (Order of finish 2-3-1)
1. Peek-Polayes (G) d. Human-Lang 8-1
2. Alexandra Tallas-Edwards (G) d. Hewett-Dayhuff 8-0
3. Koehler-Klingert (G) d. Parellada-Martina 8-1
