The WAC victory over the Wolf Pack was a big one for the Idaho women’s tennis team and the Vandals have a chance at two more this weekend — one away and one at home.
File Photo by Tony Marcolina | Argonaut Idaho freshman Sophie Vickers returns the ball during practice April 9 on the Memorial Gym tennis courts. The Vandals end their regular season at 10 a.m. Sunday on the courts behind Memorial Gym.
First Idaho (16-6, 1-1 WAC) will have a non-conference match Thursday against the San Francisco Dons (3-12), Friday against the San Jose State Spartans (13-5, 3-1 WAC) and then home for senior day Sunday against the La. Tech Bulldogs (13-6, 0-2 WAC).
“We will have three tough matches coming up but we had a good win over Nevada so I think everyone is confident going in to the end of the season,” senior and team captain Molly Knox said.
The Dons are from the West Coast Conference, a much bigger conference, and their poor record has come at the hands of top-tier teams. However, they have only scored one team point in their last three matches combined and are on a five-game losing streak.
Idaho coach Daniel Pollock will not pay any attention to the losing streak and knows San Francisco is a viable matchup.
“It’s going to be tough, we are playing at their home courts and they are a deep strong team, so we will see what we can do,” Pollock said.
Win or lose, the match won’t be nearly as important as those that follow — the final two WAC matches of the regular spring season that will determine conference tournament seeding.
First Idaho will travel to San Jose to face the Spartans, a team Pollock said is full of confidence and much improved since last year.
“They have had a lot of good wins and a really strong record this year,” Pollock said. “It’s definitely going to be tough, especially at their place.”
He said compared to Nevada, the Spartans are much deeper but lack superstars so it will be a “grind from one to six.”
The Vandals fly home after the match and will have Saturday to rest and prepare for La. Tech. Idaho has a good history against the Bulldogs and Knox said it should give them some confidence going in.
Assistant coach Natalie Kirch said La. Tech has improved since the past so Idaho can’t get too confident.
“You never know what could happen, you just want to prepare the best you can and make sure they don’t surprise you,” Kirch said.
Pollock said the Bulldogs have a lot of confidence and a good record just like the Spartans. He said he expects a grind from them but also great results.
“A match we are hoping to win, last match of the season, a conference match, and obviously it’s Senior Sunday so we want to send out the seniors in style,” Pollock said.
Knox said Annamaria Gould and she are excited for senior day and a win would make it much better.
“It would be huge to get both of these wins, if we get one it’s still giving ourselves a chance at a good seed at the conference tournament but the goal is to take both of them,” Pollock said.
Pollock said all the women have had a long hard grind of a season and now they have a chance to reap the rewards.
“They are starting to see what they have worked so hard for is pretty close now so it’s time to step up and play our best tennis and I think were ready to go,” Pollock said.
All three matches are outdoors and after a late start to the outdoor season, the Vandals are excited for it.
“I think everyone’s game really adjusts well to playing outdoors and we like the speed and getting a little bit of sun so it will be nice,” Knox said.
Pollock said the team has gotten plenty of outdoor practice with their matches last weekend and a week or so of hitting outdoors. He said Idaho thrives outdoors.
“We just love being outside because we don’t get to do it that often so every chance we get we make the most of it so I think we will be ready to go,” Pollock said.
After the long weekend Idaho will head to the WAC Championships in Las Cruces, N.M. The outdoor play will only help prepare the Vandals for what they will face there when the tournament starts April 26.
Charles Crowley can be reached at [email protected]