Zauere’s success story comes full circle

When Kristina Zauere was 11 years old, her father decided to take up tennis. He soon grew fond of the game and introduced it to Kristina, who had never played before. It would prove to be a fateful decision.

"My dad has always been for an active lifestyle," Zauere said. "We'd take ski trips as a family when I was a kid. Then one day, he started playing tennis with his brother, and he wanted my sister and I to play, too. Somehow it just went to a different level competitively. I never wanted to stop playing after that."

Zauere, who grew up in Latvia, proved to be a natural, and began traveling around Europe for tournaments and competitions.

"It was more about finding a hobby for me," she said. "My father definitely wanted me to experience traveling, competing and assuming leadership through the sport.

"There was definitely a breaking point when I was 15, and we went to Scandinavia — I think it was Denmark — for a tournament. That was the first international tournament I won, and it turned out to be one of my most successful years as a player. At that point I realized that I really liked this sport and wanted to keep on competing."

Following her stellar youth career in and around her native Latvia, she won the U-18 Singles Championship and the Vilnius Open (Lithuania) Zauere was ready for a new challenge.

"I'd always wanted to come to America — I wouldn't have had the option to play college sports in Latvia. I knew there was a possibility to get a scholarship and a good education doing something I liked, so I started sending out applications," Zauere said.

"I was drawn to Gonzaga since it was a smaller school, and they offered me a good scholarship and a great education. I talked to Coach [D.J.] Gurule, who was really welcoming and nice. It just fit."

She hit the ground running as a freshman in 2008-09. Zauere earned All-West Coast Conference second-team honors that year.

It was in doubles, which she played sparingly growing up, Zauere has displayed an uncanny knack for that realm.

"I'd played doubles in European competitions before coming to Gonzaga, but it was more for fun," she said. "When I'd take trips to tournaments, if I lost in singles but wasn't scheduled to go home for a few days, I'd play doubles to make the most of my time. It was a fun way to meet new people from different countries, but I never really knew how to play doubles before I got to Gonzaga. It's definitely a different style of game."

It was during the past two seasons, when Zauere paired with teammate Claire Dodge, that she began to thrive. The pair went 14-6 in 2009-10 and won a team-high 17 games in 2010-11.

"The most important thing in doubles is trust — supporting each other and finding the right combination between two people," Zauere said. "Claire's been my best friend throughout college, so it was really easy for us to understand each other. We definitely enjoyed playing together, and that's what I loved the most. We had fun — there's so many highlights that stand out from our games."

"We played one match where a ball went over both of our heads, and we were running back, and I just nodded to her — I didn't even have to say anything — and she knew I was going to get it," said Dodge, who graduated lost spring. "It was so funny. We were just dying laughing after that because we ended up winning the point. We just had so much fun together every time we played."

"We were playing this one match against Eastern when we were down 2-7, and we made a pinky promise that we weren't going to lose any more games," Dodge said, chuckling. "We won that set 9-7. It was insane. We were beside ourselves after. The pinky promise never let us down."

"Sometimes if you take it too seriously, it becomes rough on your game," Zauere said. "When it's your friend, and you both are passionate about the sport and you want to win, it works out perfectly."

"She's like my sister," Dodge said. "She's awesome because she doesn't take things personally. I might be too assertive or speak my mind sometimes, but she knew that about me. We just jived, and we could say anything to each other."

Zauere effuses selflessness during conversation. She says that after years of focusing on her individual career in Europe — where there were no tennis teams — becoming part of the Gonzaga program has helped make her collegiate experience a memorable one.

"Coach Gurule always says that when you're on the court, you shouldn't only think about yourself, you should think about how you can make others better," Zauere said. "Our whole team is so close that we want to see each other succeed."