The sixth-seeded Utah State Aggies were no test for the third-seeded Idaho Vandals Thursday morning in the first round of the WAC tournament in Las Cruces, N.M.
Idaho’s first win in the WAC Tournament since 2007 came in an impressive fashion. The Vandals
did not drop a single set against the Aggies in the quarter-final match, but Idaho coach Daniel Pollock said it wasn’t because the Aggies are a bad team.
“We just made them look bad because we played so well,” Pollock said.
He said the Aggies had some great players up top and were good all the way down, but Idaho came out full of energy from the start.
“It’s kind of key when you play a team that you are supposed to beat but they’re close to your level,” Pollock said. “It’s really important to get a good start and take away any confidence they have.”
That’s what Idaho did to win the double matches with its No. 2 and 3 doubles teams winning 8-3 and its No. 1 team ahead 6-4 when the match was decided.
After dominating in doubles, singles play got underway and Idaho did not slow down.
“We blasted through singles. We started at 8 (a.m.) and were done by 10:30 (a.m.) so (Idaho) pretty much played as good as they could play,” Pollock said.
Idaho Senior Molly Knox started singles play well, beating her opponent 6-0, 6-0 at the No. 3 singles tournament. Pollock said it was the best Knox has played in a long time. Knox said Pollock told the team to get the match over with quickly and she took it to heart.
“He said don’t look at the courts around you, don’t wait for your teammates to win and be the one that gets off first — I thought that sounded pretty good,” Knox said.
The Lozano sisters took Pollock’s advice too and Alejandra Lozano won 6-2, 6-2 at No. 5 and Vicky Lozano won 7-5, 6-3 at No. 1 to clinch the match. When the match was decided and the other matches stopped, Idaho won all its first sets and was ahead in its second sets.
“I think if we would have played it to completion we could have walked away with a 7-0 win,” Knox said.
During the conference tournament, matches are stopped as soon as there is a clear winner. Pollock said he was happy to see a four-point match.
“It was nice to get them off the court quick, out of the midday sun, and get them back to the hotel and get them rested up and ready for tomorrow,” Pollock said.
The Vandals thought they would find out Friday’s match-up Thursday but due to wind, the Nevada/ Hawaii match, knotted at 3-3, was postponed until today. Regardless, Idaho is ready for stiff competition.
“It would be nice to play Nevada since we already have a win against them but it would also be nice to see a new team, but either way we are going to go out and fight hard,” Knox said.
Pollock said he would rather face Hawaii today.
“I prefer them over a team that we just beat like a week and a half ago and kind of scraped by and they’re going to be out for big time revenge and be even more fired up than normal,” Pollock said.
He said he likes that Hawaii is an unknown team and it would be a match with a lot less pressure.
“Hawaii is obviously a huge favorite in that matchup so we can go out and just play free,” Pollock said.
Either way, the Vandals already exceeded many expectations and Pollock said its fantastic.
“I keep telling these girls, everything they do seems to be a big achievement and seems to be going one step further than the programs gone before which is kind of unbelievable for the youth of the team,” Pollock said.
Semi-finals take place at noon today and the weather will likely be a little warmer than Thursday’s match.
Charles Crowley can be reached at [email protected]