After a tumultuous spring season, the Vandal men’s tennis team now sets their sights on the WAC Championships in Las Cruces, N.M.
Despite the losing streaks in the regular season, the Vandals (9-13) fared well in conference play, notching a 2-1 record — which was good enough for the No. 2 seed and a first round bye. The Vandals will be facing the winner of the Seattle U and Texas-Pan American quarterfinal match taking place on Thursday, both of which are teams that Idaho coach Jeff Beaman thinks the Vandals will fare well against.
The Vandals will also benefit from playing in Las Cruces, N.M., earlier this season, albeit in a losing effort that gave them a taste of the humid, windy conditions of the Southwestern desert. The Vandals also played games in Arizona and most recently in Moscow in windy conditions. They also played in Utah and Montana this season. Although those contests were held indoors, they were played at higher elevations than the Vandals are used to, which is yet another obstacle that will come into play this weekend.
“All of the guys know how to play there already,” senior Jose Bendeck said. “It’s always good to have experience in outdoor conditions.”
The Vandals will have an extra day to prepare for their first opponent, albeit not in Las Cruces. Former Idaho women’s tennis coach Myriam Sopel, now coach of the UTEP women’s tennis program, has allowed Beaman and the Vandals to use their facilities in El Paso, Texas, to practice before the WAC Championship on Friday.
“It’s going to be pretty hot there, so that extra day without competing can help us a lot,” Bendeck said.
The Vandals played well in the final two matches of the season in wins against Montana and LCSC, which Beaman feels boosted the teams’ confidence going into the conference championships. The team is also as healthy as they have been all year, another positive, he said.
Among the most prominent name on the injured list going down the stretch was doubles standout Cristobal Ramos Salazar. He had taken time off to nurse a forearm injury, but is returning for the tournament.
“I love playing tennis — so the time off was tough. But I feel refreshed and ready for the WAC tournament,” Ramos Salazar said.
Ramos Salazar and partner Jose Bendeck have been stellar on the doubles side this spring, dropping only one match in doubles play and despite the inconsistency the team has suffered, the doubles lineup has been consistent all spring.
Although the standout No. 1 pairing has played a ton of tennis together over the past two years, getting a few more matches together before the WAC Championships should help the ITA No. 89 ranked doubles pairing. But Ramos Salazar thinks the little break was good for them.
“We play well together, when we play our best we have a good chance to win,” Bendeck said.
Beaman said the extra rest should also help alleviate some of the jet lag that may have come in to play had they not earned a first round bye.
After tinkering with various lineups throughout the spring, Beaman said he finally has settled on a lineup he likes. His doubles lineup includes: Bendeck and Ramos Salazar at No. 1 doubles, Odon Barta and Andrew Zedde at No. 2 and Artemiy Nikitin and Cesar Torres at No. 3. The singles lineup will consist of Bendeck at No. 1 and Nikitin, Ramos Salazar, Barta, Torres and Zedde at No. 2 through No. 6 respectively.
Joshua Gamez can be reached at [email protected]