The fall season is underway for Idaho women’s tennis as they travel to rival territory for the Jack Taylor Classic in Boise from Friday to Sunday.
Although collegiate tennis has a later start than the other fall sports, this is just the beginning of a season that continues into late spring for the women’s tennis team.
“We are in season all year long but we have tournaments in the fall and dual matches in the spring,” Idaho coach Myriam Sopel said. “(The fall) is really something we really look forward to, preparing for the main season — really having that objective in the long term.”
The Vandals return all but one player from their 2012-13 team and boast four seniors on this year’s eight-player group.
The team is led by senior Vicky Lozano who played in the US Open Mixed Doubles National Playoffs in August. Lozano and partner Patrick Smith lost in the first round of the tournament, but would have qualified for the main draw of the US Open had they won.
Lozano said the team’s main goals in practice have been working on consistency in singles and new partnerships in doubles.
“We’re always working on having the team together and (having) a positive mentality,” she said. “That’s one of the main goals besides the technical stuff — having a positive mentality.”
The Vandals had mixed results in the 2012 Jack Taylor Invitational. No Idaho players came out with more wins than losses.
Senior Beatriz Flores was the top Vandal in the 2012 Jack Taylor Invitational after she came out with an even 2-2 record in singles and a 2-2 record in doubles with partner Rita Bermudez.
“We’ve been practicing pretty hard so I think that the team is getting ready to start these preseason matches and start strong,” Flores said. “Mainly we are focusing on improving. Each of us (has) something to improve so we are looking to improve those things.”
In addition to Boise State, the Vandals also face Washington State this weekend in Boise. The Cougars will be familiar foes for the Vandals early in the season as Idaho’s next two tournaments after the Jack Taylor Invitational are the Cougar Classic on Sept. 27-29, and the Washington State Invite on Oct. 4-6.
“It’s good as well to have good competition with WSU,” Sopel said. “It’s a ranked team so it’s good to be able to gauge your own level with other high-level teams. We’re going to play Boise State and WSU in the spring so we get a sense of what their levels are and put some strategies in against some of the players as well.”
Stephan Wiebe can be reached at [email protected]