Tuesday afternoon, the Idaho women’s tennis team anxiously watched the unveiling of the NCAA Tournament bracket.
With each passing matchup, the team appeared more anxious. Twenty-four teams’ names came across the screen before the Vandals finally saw who they drew in the first round — the defending national champion UCLA Bruins in Los Angeles.
Despite drawing the Bruins in the opening round, Idaho coach Mariana Cobra said she doesn’t think the Vandals should worry after exceeding expectations during their first season in the Big Sky.
“We have done more than what is expected from us, so now it is all about having fun,” Cobra said. “UCLA is one of the top teams in the nation. We just gotta go there and enjoy ourselves because it might be the last time we play.”
The Vandals have some experience playing NCAA Tournament games in the City of Angels though. Last year, the Vandals fell in the opening round of the tournament to this year’s No. 1 seeded USC Trojans. The experience they gained then could be invaluable going into this year.
“Having gone to nationals last year and getting that under our belts will definitely help us,” senior Sophie Vickers said. “We won’t be so nervous. That experience will definitely help us.”
But the entire team won’t enjoy that luxury. Emmie Marx sat out the NCAA Tournament season last season after transferring from Illinois State. Now she will be looking to her teammates who have that experience for advice about what to expect, she said.
Despite the challenge the Vandals will face May 8 when they take the court against the Bruins, they have some experience playing against ranked teams.
Although teams like Arizona and Fresno State are not on the same level as UCLA, knowing that they didn’t get completely shut down by them during the regular season is something the team can look to as a model of how to compete, Vickers said.
Along with this, the team is riding the high of upsetting Sacramento State in the finals of the Big Sky Tournament last weekend. The Hornets had previously won 13 straight conference tournaments.
“Everyone is super confident right now,” Vickers said. “It was a huge upset for us, beating Sac State, so everyone is on a high at the moment and they should be pretty confident with their game.”
The team has nothing to lose, Marx said. The Bruins were expected to be a top seed while the Vandals go into the tournament as underdogs without outside expectations of winning.
Cobra said the way the win over the Hornets occurred is something the Vandals can look to not only for inspiration as they prepare for the Bruins, but as something that can factor into other areas as well.
“I think the conference championship and the last match was a huge learning lesson for us and all of them for their entire lives,” Cobra said “If you come together as a team, anything is possible and we definitely gotta keep building on that.”
Not only do the Vandals get the chance to knock off the defending champions, but they also get to play in the California sun at a world class facility.
“I think everyone is happy to be going to California,” Vickers said. “You can’t complain about going to California and playing some tennis outside.”
Joshua Gamez can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @Gamez_VN