With the home crowd and teammates cheering her on, senior Almudena Sanz fought back after being down one set. She prevailed in the final match of the day to break a 3-3 tie, as the Idaho women’s tennis team defeated the Oregon Ducks 4-3 in Moscow Saturday.
Parker Wilson | Argonaut
Idaho seniors Vicky Lozano, Almudena Sanz and Ale Lazano receive flowers during their Senior Day ceremony at the Memorial Gym tennis courts on Friday afternoon. Sanz’s three-set singles victory led the Vandals to a 4-3 win over the Oregon Ducks in Idaho’s only match in Moscow. They’ll have the No. 1 seed at the WAC tournament this weekend.
“The crowd here helps a lot to stay focused and push you to the end,” Sanz said.
The Vandals jumped to an early 3-0 lead, winning the doubles point as all three doubles matches ended 8-5. Galina Bykova and Belen Barcenilla won their matches early, but the Ducks didn’t quit.
“It’s a big win against a good team,” Idaho coach Jeff Beaman said. “It’s great to do it under pressure. We went from 3-0 to 3-3, and Almu has had some matches where she had been in those situations.”
“This one on Senior Day to go out and beat a No. 2 from a big-time Pac-12, it’s a great one for her building confidence and a great one for the team,” he said.
Senior Vicky Lozano stressed the importance of the win and said it’s big for the team’s confidence moving forward to the WAC Championships.
“I think this win is going to help us a lot with our confidence,” Lozano said. “Especially because this is a very good team and comparing with the teams in the conference, that gives us an idea of what we can do.”
The crowd played a role in the victory for the Vandals. Lozano said she benefited from finally having her close friends watching.
“The crowd was amazing honestly, because we are used to dealing with a crowd against us,” Lozano said. “It was a great feeling, and it was nice to have all the people here.”
The turning point of the match came when Sanz was down one set with the match tied 3-3. She won the tiebreaker in an intense second set — much to the dismay of Oregon assistant coach Maja Kovacek. Kovacek argued with the official, saying the crowd caused a hindrance to the point.
Following the tiebreaker, Sanz prevailed 6-2 in the final set to lock the victory for the Vandals.
“I had to change my strategy,” Sanz said. “At the beginning, she was hitting really good inside the court. Then, I started pushing her back and started playing better.”
The Vandals will lose seniors Vicky Lozano, her twin sister Alejandra Lozano and Sanz.
“With them graduating, it’ll be a huge hole to fill,” Beaman said.
Oregon has dropped its last seven matches, including its previous two against No. 6
California and No. 7 Stanford.
After their final match against Montana in Missoula, Mont., Sunday, the Vandals will prepare for the WAC Championships in Las Cruces, N.M., starting on April 25.
Conor Gleason can be reached at [email protected]