Feeling more competitive than last fall, the Idaho tennis coaches have designed schedules to allow both the men’s and women’s teams chances to play at a higher level.
“It’s a great mix of competition of tournaments where we can win the championship, and other ones that are really high level to see if we are able to compete with the best teams in the country,” Idaho Director of Tennis Jeff Beaman said.
Beaman said he is excited for the opportunities both teams will have this season, especially in some of the more rigorous tournaments.
“In those you will have a chance to play people with a national rank and a chance to earn a national rank with a good combination (of wins),” Beaman said.
The men’s schedule starts with the University of Idaho Campus Showdown, a non-collegiate event in Moscow Sept. 8. Their first collegiate action of the fall slate is Sept. 21-23 when Idaho will send half of the men to the Eastern Washington Fall Classic, a smaller and less-challenging tournament, and the other half will head to the Baylor Invitational, a challenging tournament that features some of the nation’s top players.
The Vandals did not attend the Baylor Invitational last year but two years ago they sent four players, with three of them pulling out huge wins. Beaman hasn’t forgotten and wants to go back to the event and give it another try.
“I really feel confident that this year’s team is at a higher level than we were last year. That’s why we are going back because I feel we can compete,” Beaman said.
Next, the Vandal men will play in the Boise State Fall Tournament Oct. 5-7, the ITA Mountain Regional Championships in Las Vegas Oct. 17-21 and the Pacific Northwest Intercollegiate Tournament in Seattle Nov. 9-11.
“At the regional you have a draw of 128 players, and Baylor is a smaller draw with a higher concentration of top level guys, but when you put 128 of the best players from our region in a draw, it’s a long grueling tournament and you are going to have a lot of good guys in that draw also,” Beaman said.
The men are not the only Vandal tennis team with a tougher schedule this year. Women’s coach Daniel Pollock added two more events to the schedule this season.
The schedule starts the same as the men with the Campus Showdown. But the women’s first collegiate action will be at the Washington State Cougar Classic in Pullman Sept. 14-16. Next the women will play at the Boise State Jack Taylor Invitational Sept. 28-30, the ITA Mountain Regional Championships Oct. 10-14 in Las Vegas, the Duck Invitational in Eugene, Ore., Oct. 19-21 and lastly the Houston Cougar Classic Nov. 2-4.
Pollock likes the new schedule and said it allows the women to really test themselves against some of the best competition in the nation.
“We see teams from the SEC, from the Big 12 and from the Pac 12 — it’s going to be a tough test — I’m excited to see how the girls stand up against some good competition,” Pollock said.
The toughest addition to the schedule for the women is the Houston Invitational, the last event of the fall campaign.
“It’s going to be just as it’s getting cold here and it’s going to be really hot down there,” Pollock said. “I just felt like we could test ourselves against some teams we don’t normally see, against some really strong teams, so there was an opportunity to get in it and it was nice to get in in the last minute.”
After a good year last year and some great results during the summer, this fall schedule could be the transition Idaho needs for the spring season, when the results matter most.
Charles Crowley can be reached at [email protected]