MORAGA, Calif. – The Saint Mary's Women's Tennis team will hit the road this weekend for two critical WCC matchups as they face off against Portland and Gonzaga. 
 
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels (6-9) at Portland Pilots (9-6)
Friday, April 14 at 9 AM
Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center – Portland, Ore.
Watch | Live Stats 
 
Saint Mary's Gaels (6-9) at Gonzaga Bulldogs (11-10)
Saturday, April 15 at 12 PM
Stevens Center – Spokane, Wash. 
Watch | Live Stats 
 
LAST TIME OUT 
The Gaels went 1-1 last week as they lost narrowly to UC Davis 4-2, before bouncing back against Pacific to beat the Tigers 5-2. 
 
It was a beautiful day for tennis in Moraga Saturday afternoon as the Gaels snapped their three-match losing streak with an assertive 5-2 performance over the Pacific Tigers.
 
In their past matches the Gaels have often struggled to build momentum on the double's courts, but that certainly was not the case on Saturday.
 
SMC's Olivia Rook and Tian Yu Dong were on their game in the #3 match, as the Gaels duo gave Danielle Zamora and Alexis Sam trouble all match long as they went onto win 6-3.
 
The doubles point hinged on the #1 court, as the experienced pairing of Jordan Harris and Lene Mari Hovda took on Klara Kosan and Karina Chao. Harris and Hovda faced one difficult fight, as the #32 ranked doubles team in the country refused to go down without a fight. 
 
The SMC duo was simply too good for the Tigers, as the Gaels were able to hold their nerve in a tiebreak to win the match 7-6 and clinch the vital doubles point with it.
 
The Gaels had momentum on their side heading into the singles matches, and they certainly took advantage. SMC was able to win four of the six singles matches to clinch the overall victory as well. 
 
Lene Mari Hovda found her groove in her singles match as she faced off against Pacific's Karina Chao. Hovda was placing the ball wherever she wanted it, as she coasted by Chao 6-3, 6-3. 
 
A handful of the Gaels matches finished in three-set fashion, the first of which taking place in the #5 match. After dropping the first set 6-2, SMC's Tian Yu Dong battled back in a big way against UOP's Alexis Sam. She bounced back to win the second set 6-3, following it up with a 6-2 win in the third set to clinch the win as well. 
 
Stefanie Silva also had her work cut out for her in the #6 match, facing off against Pacific's Danielle Zamora. Silva dropped the first set 6-4, but like her teammate Dong, would bounce back in the second 6-1, and again in the third 6-2. 
 
Freshman Iman Khan has been playing some great tennis for the Gaels, and her strong play today helped clinch the overall victory for SMC. Khan faced a tricky opponent in Zoe Clydesdale-Eberle, as the two fought hard for every point. 
 
After Khan narrowly won the first set 7-5, she set off to do the exact same in the second. Clydesdale-Eberle refused to back down, and Khan dug deep to pull off the victory, clinching the match with an intense 7-6 second set. 
 
ABOUT PORTLAND
The Pilots enter their Friday matchup with the Gaels with a 9-6 overall record and a 1-3 conference record. Portland head coach Filip Zivkovic is in his 2^nd season in charge of the program after serving as the interim head coach during the 2021-2022 season. The Pilots are coming off of two straight defeats, having lost to conference foes USF and LMU by scores of 3-4 and 1-6. The Gaels have had the advantage over Portland in the past, as SMC have a 10-3 overall record against Pilots, with last season's matchup resulting in a 6-1 Gaels win. 
 
ABOUT GONZAGA
The Zags face off against the Gaels on Saturday having gone 11-10 on the season thus far. Gonzaga will face off against the Pacific Tigers on Friday, hoping to erase their two-match losing streak. Zags head coach Natalie Pluskota-Hamberg is in her first season in charge of the program having been the assistant Zags assistant for the past four seasons. The Gaels have had the Zags number the past few meetings, as SMC has a 12-3 overall record, with their last meeting in 2022 resulting in a 5-2 Gaels win as well.