With weekend wins over in-state rivals Boise State and Idaho State, the Idaho women’s tennis team proved to be the best Division I program within the state borders. The Vandals also improved to No. 51 in Tuesday’s ITA National Top 75 rankings.
“It is great to see the women ranked at 51,” Idaho head coach Jeff Beaman said. “We want to see how high we can get for the potential for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, but our only true goal right now is continuing to improve and winning the automatic bid by winning the WAC title.”
Idaho beat Boise State 4-3 Friday in Boise before sweeping Idaho State 7-0 on Saturday to improve in the rankings.
“It’s been a fair number of years since we’ve beaten Boise State,” Beaman said. “They’ve been in the rankings a lot and it’s very tough to play there. For our girls to pull through in a tight match against a very strong team was really impressive.”
The Vandals needed every point in their match against the Broncos. Idaho squeaked out wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles with scores of 8-6 to earn the doubles point. The Vandals then earned back-and-forth singles point victories winning at No. 1, No. 3 and No. 5 singles.
“Those are the types of matches that you need, win or lose,” Beaman said. “Everybody can smile and be happy when you blow people out. It’s fun to win, but you learn by being pushed and competing.”
Despite Boise State no longer being in the WAC, Beaman said there is still a sense of rivalry between the two teams and two schools.
“It’s not a confrontational situation, but there’s a lot of people that breed passion when you do get a lot of fans out there,” he said. “It’s not only about the tennis but the Idaho-Boise thing. It takes it to that next level and it’s good that the girls experience it at this point in the year.”
The Vandals went on to sweep Idaho State on Saturday. Idaho’s Belen Barcenilla and Beatriz Flores needed tiebreakers to win at No. 4 and No. 5 singles, but the Vandals dominated in singles play winning 8-4 at No. 1, 8-1 at No. 2 and 8-2 at No. 3.
One particular Vandal who helped carry the team over the weekend was Victoria Lozano. The senior defeated BSU’s Sandy Vo 6-3, 6-2 on Friday at No. 1 singles before beating ISU’s Marian Tangarife 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday. She also swept the weekend in No. 1 doubles with her partner Almudena Sanz.
“Vicky’s winning a lot at No. 1. That is critical that you are winning at the top spot, Beaman said. “But every girl, whether she’s been in the lineup part of the time or all the matches, has come up with good wins in different matches.”
Next up for the Vandals are three matches in Hawaii. They play Sacred Heart Thursday, Hawaii Pacific Friday and Hawaii Saturday.
“It’s going to be hot conditions, humid,” Beaman said. “I think it’ll be great to get some outdoor tennis in, get a lot of additional training in outside in the wind and the sun.”
Stephan Wiebe can be reached at [email protected]