After both the men 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 ranked No. 17 and No. 20 in the Mountain Region. Rounding out the Vandal honors was Cristobal Ramos-Salazar. In combination with Bendeck, the two ranked as the No. 3 at doubles tandem in the region and No. 72 in the national ranks. Ramos-Salazar was the lone player ranked returning next year for his senior season.
“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.”
With his work for both the men and women’s teams this spring, Beaman added a pair of conference championships, WAC Coach of the Year awards and NCAA tournament bids to his already impressive resume, which consisted of a 2013 WAC Men’s Coach of the Year and 2011 ITA Men’s Coach of the Year awards.
Beaman said, although the final rankings were solely based on fall tournaments and spring results, the NCAA berths did nothing but good for the Vandals in the final ranks. Beaman added, getting five players ranked really helps the program with recruiting.
Even though the Vandal men finished strong, they saw their fair share of struggles during the spring season. Winning the conference championship was the only way they could have made the NCAA tournament, in which they get took an early exit and lost to the No. 1 team in the country, and eventual national champion, USC in the first round.
“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 regular season record and WAC championship. This was good for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Unfortunately the Vandal women were upset by USC in the opening round. The Trojan women were eventually knocked off by Georgia in the third round of the tournament.