The Idaho women’s tennis team, fifth-seeded underdogs at the conference tournament, saw its Western Athletic Championship dreams crushed Friday with a 4-0 loss to top-seeded hosts Denver in the semifinals.
The team reached the semifinals after avenging a 4-2 regular season loss with an impressive 4-2 quarterfinal win against Texas-Arlington the day before. Unfortunately the team met its match after Denver defeated No. 8-seeded New Mexico State with ease, 4-0.
The Vandals’ No. 1 doubles first-team All-WAC duo of Almudena Sanz and Victoria Lozano entered the semifinals with a 7-0 record in WAC regular season play. After a win in the quarterfinals Sanz and Lozano had won 12 consecutive doubles matches with a 14-4 record on the season. It still wasn’t enough.
For Denver, it was the Pioneers’ three graduating stars’ time to shine. Sophia Bergner and Steffi Rath snapped Idaho’s No.1 doubles win streak with an 8-6 win.
As the primary No. 1 doubles role players for the past two years the two posted a 19-9 record this season to lead the Pioneers.
Ironically, in a 6-1 loss to Denver earlier on in the season Sanz and Lozano defeated Bergner and Rath in doubles 8-6, contributing to Idaho’s only point of the match. Idaho’s two elite stars had no luck against Denver and neither did the rest of the team.
Rita Bermudez and Bety Flores went down 8-4 at No. 3 and every Vandal singles attempt resulted in a straight-set loss or unfinished match. Freshman Belen Barcenilla fought hard at No. 5 singles with a 6-3 second set win after dropping the first set but did not finish her third set. Flores did not finish at No. 4, Lozano did not finish at No. 1 singles despite a close 7-6 loss in her first set and Sanz lost 6-1, 6-4, against Denver’s Caroline Schnell at No. 2.
Constance Alexander lost 6-1 in her first set followed by a 6-0 loss in her second set against Denver’s leading doubles player and senior Emma Isberg at No. 3. Idaho’s Sophie Vickers made another rare appearance at No. 6 but also failed to do any damage losing 6-4, 6-3.
The other semifinal match featured No. 2-seeded San Jose State and No. 4-seeded Louisiana Tech. After defeating Louisiana Tech in a tight 4-2 victory during the semifinals, the Spartans pulled off a 4-3 upset against Denver on their home courts to claim the 2013 WAC Championship title.
Idaho finished the season above .500, with a 13-12 record. Last season the Vandals finished 19-8 but were also defeated in the WAC Tournament semifinals against former WAC foe Hawaii. The Vandals will say goodbye to Montana transfer and graduating senior Constance Alexander. Alexander posted an impressive streak of doubles wins earlier on in the season giving the Vandals momentum for an extraordinary turnaround after a 0-4 start.
Idaho’s top scorers Sanz, Lozano and Flores have one season remaining as Barcenilla and Bermudez finish off their rookie seasons, gaining more valuable experience along the way and will hope for better luck next year.
Aaron Wolfe can be reached at [email protected]