Four inches of snow and cold temperatures won’t stop Idaho men’s tennis from attempting to lengthen its win streak to three today when the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks come to town.
The Vandals and Lumberjacks will likely play inside at approximately 6 p.m. after the women’s match at LCSC in Lewiston due to weather concerns. The match was scheduled to be the only home match of Idaho’s season.
“We’d love to play in Moscow, but they’re trying to look at shoveling snow off the courts,” Idaho Director of Tennis Jeff Beaman said. “It looks unlikely. But if there is any chance to play outside and play at home, we’ll definitely do that.”
The Lumberjacks have struggled mightily all year, netting only four wins. The Big Sky opponent has been outscored 87-36 since Jan. 21 against opponents of all calibers.
“They’re a team that has been struggling a little bit lately,” Beaman said. “But they’re definitely a talented team so we can’t overlook them. They’ve given us tough matches in the past.”
Beaman said the match is a good opportunity to build confidence after the drought of wins through February. He said winning and confidence is especially important heading toward the end of the season for seeding purposes in the WAC Tournament.
“Fresno (State) has really distanced itself as the top team in the conference on the men’s side. They spent time in the top 15 in the country,” Beaman said. “If we can get a chance to get that two or three seed and possibly not match up against them until the finals, (that) is important.”
Every team in the WAC, aside from Fresno State, has the opportunity to claim the two or three seeds going into the WAC Tournament, Beaman said.
Beaman said no matter how his team has come by a loss, a win is always better.
“Whenever you’re losing, no matter if you’re losing to top teams, it’s still losing and a lot of it is confidence,” Beaman said. “So to get some wins really helps build the confidence back to where it needs to be to compete at a high level.”
If Idaho wins it will progress to 11-12 on the season and will end its regular season against Hawaii (4-9) and Utah State (4-9) April 13 in Logan, Utah, before the WAC Championships April 26 to 29 in Las Cruces, N.M.
Nick Groff can be reached at [email protected]
Tony Marcolina | Argonaut
Idaho senior Alan Shin returns the ball during practice Tuesday on the Memorial Gym tennis courts. The men play Northern Arizona at 4:30 p.m. Friday in Moscow or at 6 p.m. in Lewiston, depending on weather conditions.