Las Vegas is typically a place to win big, or lose big, but the Vandal women’s tennis team found a middle ground putting up mixed results with some big wins in the lower rounds in addition to some tough losses.
lya Pinchuk | Argonaut
Almudena Sanz volleys a return at the Memorial Gym tennis courts last spring. Sanz and two teammates competed in the ITA Regionals last week in Las Vegas.
Only juniors Almudena Sanz and Vicky Lozano and freshman Rita Bermudez were able to travel. Though they didn’t win any flights, they had some impressive wins in the early rounds, including a surprise run in singles by Sanz.
Bermudez and Lozano both lost tough first round singles matches, dropping out in the Round of 128. Sanz would not fall so easy though. She made it through three rounds, defeating Utah’s top player, Elena Najera 6-4, 6-4 along the way. Sanz didn’t lose until she met the No. 2 seed in the tournament, Aleksandra Josifoska from UNLV, in the Round of 16. Josifoska went on to win the tournament.
Bermudez lost in the main draw but dominated a UNLV opponent 6-1, 6-1 in the first round of consolation play. She said she felt pretty confident coming in and it was a good match.
Bermudez said there were some strong players there but Idaho also didn’t play how they should in some of the matches.
“It was definitely a different environment to play in with the weather and the courts but there was definitely some competition up there,” Bermudez said.
Sanz and Lozano didn’t let the environment affect them too much when they paired up and put together some solid wins at doubles.
Lozano and Sanz beat doubles pairings from New Mexico, UNLV, and Wyoming to advance to the quarterfinals before falling to a UNLV pairing who then lost in the semi-finals.
They played some top-level opponents, but Lozano said the UNLV pairing that eliminated them was a really good team.
“They aren’t unbeatable but I think we have to work on patience and intelligence on the court,” Lozano said.
She said they were confident and were attacking the ball at the net and communicating during their matches and that they lost the last match due to being too passive and not attacking the ball.
Lozano said her obstacles in singles are a bit different than in doubles. In singles, Lozano said she needs to work on being more concentrated from the beginning of the match and not feel so nervous. She said practice matches with her teammates will help this tremendously.
Regionals is an important fall tournament but the main goal of the fall season is to prepare for the spring season when team competition begins and the Vandals strive to be WAC champions.
The Vandals will get two more chances to scope out the competition and prepare for the important spring season. Oct. 19-21 they head to the University of Portland Invite in Eugene, Oregon and Nov. 2-4, the Vandals will wrap up their fall season with the Houston Cougar Classic.
Charles Crowley can be reached at arg-sports@uidaho.edu