Fresh on the heels of a 4-2 victory over future Big Sky Conference opponent Montana on Thursday, Idaho men’s tennis played in Moscow for the first and only time this spring to take on LCSC on Senior Day.
“It’s nice to play here at home. Last year we didn’t have any home matches,” senior Jose Bendeck said. “It feels good to play in front of your friends.”
The Vandals (9-13) came out ready to play against LCSC, winning five of the six singles matches in straight sets and dominated on the doubles side, winning all three matches with ease. Led by the standout pairing of Cristobal Ramos Salazar and Bendeck — one of the four seniors on the Idaho team — the Vandals went on to a 7-0 win over LCSC.
“I think it’s nice to have a Senior Day, good weather, decent crowd and win a home match — definitely a step in the right direction for next week,” coach Jeff Beaman said.
Beaman tinkered with the doubles lineup most of the spring and rather than doing that again in the regular season finale, he stuck with the three pairings that worked against Montana — Ramos-Salazar and Bendeck at No. 1, Odon Barta and Andrew Zedde at No. 2 and Artemiy Nikitin and Cesar Torres at No. 3.
After a tumultuous spring season, the lineup is finally starting to settle. Beaman is optimistic for the WAC Championships in Las Cruces, N.M., where the Vandals suffered what may have been their ugliest loss of the spring with a 0-4 loss to the Aggies in February. Beaman thinks Idaho now knows what to expect from New Mexico State.
“Things are going the right way at the right time but it’s going to come down to how we deal with the pressure and conditions of the tournament,” Beaman said. “I definitely like things going well — guys supporting each other and playing hard. It definitely has to continue if we want to have a shot at the conference tournament.”
Getting Ramos-Salazar and Bendeck back together for two matches leading into the WAC Championships is key, Beaman said. The two have played together a lot over the last two seasons, but he still wants to keep the chemistry fluid, he said.
Although Ramos Salazar isn’t quite 100 percent yet, he appears ready for the postseason.
“It’s good to have him back — he’s a great player. I like playing doubles with him, we are doing great this season,” Bendeck said. “He knows he has to give 100 percent every time, even if he is still hurting. He’s worked really hard.”
Despite the lopsided win, LCSC was no pushover. Both Nikitin and Bendeck were pushed in their matches with Sam Tozer and Shao-Po Yin, respectively. But they both were able to push through and get wins, which is a positive sign heading into the WAC Championships where they will be pushed in every match, Beaman said.
Bendeck needed a third set to seal his singles victory and preserve the shutout win for the Vandals. He and Yin battled back and forth before he bested the LSCS freshman 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 (4).
“Even when you’re not playing your best you fight and pull the matches out,” Bendeck said.
Although the Vandals had competitive matches with highly ranked teams this season including Washington and Boise State, Beaman feels getting convincing wins over LCSC and Montana to end the season have done more for their confidence than just hanging with the bigger teams.
The WAC Championships start on April 25 and runs through April 27.
Joshua Gamez can be reached at [email protected]