It’s championship season, and the Idaho women’s tennis team is the favorite this weekend in Las Cruces, N.M., the site of the WAC Championships. Not far behind at No. 2 and 3 are Texas-Pan American and New Mexico State.
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Senior Vicky Lozano practices Monday in preparation for the WAC Championships in Las Cruces, N.M. The Vandals will be the No. 1 seed.
“We have pressure at (the) No.1 seed,” Idaho coach Jeff Beaman said.
“We have a competition mindset,” senior Vicky Lozano said. “I’m a little bit nervous, which is good for performance, but I’m excited for the tournament.”
The Vandals have a first round bye, and will play the winner of Chicago State and Kansas City at 9 a.m. on Saturday. If victorious, there’s a chance Idaho could run into the only team in the WAC to notch a win against it — New Mexico State.
“It gives our team motivation,” Beaman said. “The other thing is we’ve played them once. We know what we have to do to beat that team. If we play them the finals, there is going to be a lot of people there expecting them to win the conference championship.”
Beaman scheduled its April 13 match at New Mexico State so the team could play in the humidity and get a taste of the Aggies’ tendencies.
Lozano said she’s glad the Vandals played NMSU a couple weeks ago, and will make a few small adjustments to her game before the weekend.
“It definitely helps that we played them already,” Lozano said. “I’m going to be patient and wait for the right ball to go do my lies, go to the net and finish the point there.”
Much like NCAA Division I basketball, teams who win their conference tournament receive an automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Tournament on May 9, 10 and 11.
“It’s been our goal all season to go to nationals,” Lozano said. “I want to accomplish that and the girls want to accomplish it.”
If the Vandals win, Beaman must submit an application to the NCAA to accept its bid to the tournament. From there, a committee will rank the teams and decide where Idaho will travel for the tournament.
“We could play anywhere,” Beaman said. “We’re probably going to play a team in the first round that’s a top-six team in the nation. We might be at North Carolina, we might be at Duke, we might be at UCLA. You just never know.”
Lozano is excited for what is to come Idaho wins the WAC Championship. It would be her first time in four years going to the national tournament.
“A lot has changed since I came here,” Lozano said. “Even my personality, my game style and style of playing. It’ll be nice to play against higher ranked universities, if we get the chance.”
Conor Gleason can be reached at [email protected]