The Weber State Wildcats (0-17) hope for their first win this Friday in Idaho, but the Vandals (14-5, 0-1 WAC) are on a roll and have no plans of slowing down.
This matchup is one coach Daniel Pollock feels the Vandals should definitely win but he said the Wildcats are better than their record suggests.
“They have had some close matches against some pretty good teams that we have played so it’s a deceptively poor record,” Pollock said.
The Wildcats have only scored three team points in a match once this season and have been shut out six times, but it means nothing to Pollock.
“We’re going to prepare for these guys like we would Washington State or Boise State because if we take someone lightly there is always a chance we could slip up and lose,” Pollock said.
Freshman Sophie Vickers said the Vandals are not even paying attention to the either team’s record and will play the match with everything they have.
“They are obviously not one of the stronger teams that we faced this year but we still have to bring our best tennis and hopefully keep this winning streak going,” Vickers said.
Pollock said every match is equally important from here on out so they take them one at a time and don’t look at the winning streak.
Idaho has won 10 of its last 12 matches since the middle of February — including three in a row — all on the road.
Idaho’s outdoor facilities force the team away until late in the season. The match against the Wildcats is the first of three consecutive home matches scheduled in Moscow. But unpredictable weather could be move Friday’s match to LCSC in Lewiston.
Sophomore Bety Flores said the team looks forward to its first home match because friends want to come support the Vandals. She said if the weather doesn’t hold, playing in Lewiston is fine with the team.
“The (LCSC) facility is really good.” Flores said. “We prefer and we would love it to play here for our friends and to have our first match here, but we are comfortable to play over there.”
Idaho has practiced in Lewiston a few times this season and played three matches there. In those three matches, a total of one team point has been scored against the Vandals.
“They are definitely our favorite indoor courts that we have played on so I’m sure we would be happy to play there if we had to,” Vickers said.
No matter the location, this match is at 10 a.m. Friday and Idaho is looking forward to another win.
“We have had a good run and if we could win this match against Weber it could really keep things going for us,” Vickers said.
Charles Crowley can be reached at [email protected]