The Idaho women’s tennis team is WAC Tournament-bound after winning its final match 5-2 against Utah State in Logan on Saturday, helping them finish with a winning record of 12-11 and 5-4 mark against WAC opponents.
Idaho’s Bety Flores smashes a backhand shot during practice April 16 on the Memorial Gym tennis courts. The Vandals concluded their regular season with a win against Utah State Saturday in Logan , Utah. Idaho will travel to Denver for the Western Athletic Conference Tournament Wednesday for an opportunity to earn conference hardware as well as a berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Another flawless appearance from the Vandals’ No. 1 doubles team that has come out nearly unbeatable in the second half of the spring season helped contribute to the overall match win. Almudena Sanz and Victoria Lozano will finish the season having not lost at No. 1 doubles when playing with one another since Feb. 10 against Boise State. Not only did Sanz help Lozano win once again in one of many doubles victories of the spring season but the junior also fought back from a first set loss to win at No. 2 singles, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Lozano, who recently received WAC Player of the Week honors for the third time in her career, has 11 doubles consecutive wins after defeating the Aggies’ No. 1 team. Throughout the season Lozano has alternated playing doubles with Sanz, but also senior Constance Alexander, who finished the last regular season match of her collegiate career.
Bety Flores has served as another secret weapon for the Vandals, who have won four of their last five final matches of the season. Flores won in both singles and doubles against Utah State on Saturday. She also earned a singles win in an effort to avenge a loss in doubles against Texas State in a 4-3 Idaho win after Flores had won in singles against Seattle U and closed out the doubles point for the Vandals against Gonzaga.
“We finished the regular season very strong,” Idaho coach Myriam Sopel said. “We have been getting better and better throughout the season.”
Sophie Vickers made another rare appearance in the Saturday match against Utah State. In only her fourth match appearance of the spring season Vickers won in both singles and doubles to help contribute to the cause.
“It was a great team win,” Sopel said. “Everybody contributed to this win, whether they were competing on court or cheering on the sideline.”
The Vandals have remained a consistent doubles powerhouse in the second half of the season and this final match exemplified the statistic.
Against Utah State, the Vandals earned doubles wins across the board to rebound from two singles losses.
In the month of April, the Vandals won 17 out of 24 doubles match attempts total.
“We won all doubles in a very convincing fashion, which was key for the confidence going into singles,” Sopel said. “We played smart tennis and applied very well what we’ve been working on all week long to get ready to play in altitude.”
After an impressive finish to a season that started off unimpressively, the Vandals are hoping to put up higher numbers against higher ranked teams at a higher altitude in the WAC Tournament in Denver beginning Thursday, April 25.
“We are sending a strong message to the other teams in the WAC. We are fully ready for the WAC Tournament and will fight from the very first to the very last point,” Sopel said.
Aaron Wolfe can be reached at [email protected]