After both the men’s and women’s tennis teams advanced to the NCAA tournament this past May, Idaho coach Jeff Beaman had another feather put into his cap as five of his players managed to crack the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, released on June 4.
The Vandal women finished ranked No. 7 overall in the Mountain Region. Victoria Lozano was the No. 11 ranked singles competitor, and No. 7 in doubles pairing with Almudena Sanz.
On the Men’s team, seniors Jose Bendeck and Artemiy Nikitin finished as the No. 17 and No. 20 ranked men’s competitors. Rounding out the Vandal honors was Cristobal Ramos Salazar, who along with Bendeck finished ranked No. 3 in doubles in the region, and No. 72 in the national ranks. Ramos Salazar was the lone player ranked who will be returning for his senior season in the fall.
“There were no surprises with what came out for the teams or individuals who ended up ranked,” Beaman said. “The strong fall tournament play was something that got us started out on the right foot. Then some good results against regional opponents this spring is what really solidified their spot.”
Along with the five Vandals in the final rankings, Beaman added two WAC Championships, two WAC Coach of the Year awards (for both the men and women’s teams) and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances to his resume this spring, which already consisted of a 2013 Men’s Coach of the Year and 2011 ITA Men’s Coach of the Year awards.
Although these final rankings are solely based on fall tournaments and spring results, the NCAA berths did nothing but good for the Vandals in the final ranks, Beaman said. Getting this many players ranked at the end of the year helps the program grow on the recruiting side, Beaman added.
Although the spring season ended well for the Vandal men, they struggled this spring. They needed to win the WAC Championship to even make it into the NCAA tournament, which saw them get handled by the No. 1 team in the country, and eventual National Champion, USC.
“To have players recognized doesn’t necessarily make what we went through better but it was very satisfying–it definitely gives us a sense of accomplishment for what we were able to do on the court,” Beaman said. “We want to keep getting better, and by having good results–we could keep using that to build confidence and also be able to bring in higher level recruits.”
The women, unlike the men, started out hot this spring and stayed hot as they rolled into the opening round of the NCAA tournament, with a 19-5 record in the WAC regular season, and WAC tournament championships. This was good for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Unfortunately the No. 1 seed did the Vandal women no good as they were upset by the USC women in the opening round. The Trojan women were eventually knocked off by Georgia in the tournament’s third round.
Joshua Gamez can be reached at [email protected]