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Students found the three-day weekend to be an excuse to hit the ski slopes or travel home, but the University of Idaho tennis team found it an opportunity to battle against some of the best teams in the northwest.
Men
Losing two good players due to injury didn’t stop the team from playing tough this weekend in Oregon, managing to go 2-2 over the three-day weekend. They defeated the much-improved Weber State (4-2) and Portland State (6-1).
Junior Tim Huynh and senior Robert Chalkley both sprained ankles this weekend, taking them temporarily out of the line-up.
“(We are) definitely stronger than we started last year,” said Idaho coach Jeff Beaman. “It built our confidence and let us see where we were at.”
Beaman said the long weekend would show him what kind of condition the team was in. Playing 36 matches in just three days, the team held together just fine.
“I was happy with their condition. People were in good shape,” Beaman said. “They weren’t tired on Sunday; they had good energy.”
Freshman Andrey Potapkin had no trouble playing at the No. 1 spot this weekend, finishing with a perfect record of 4-0.
“He gives the other players confidence that we can win at the No. 1 spot at any time,” Beaman said. “For a freshman to be 15-2 this early in the year shows that he can be a dominant division I player.”
“We’re going to keep working hard and keep doing what we are doing, and we’ll be fine,” Potapkin said.
The men will travel to Lewiston on Saturday to take on Lewis-Clark State College and Whitman College.
Women
The women’s team didn’t play as many matches as the men this weekend, but they had their work cut out for them, taking on LCSC and Washington State.
The young team showed no signs of nervousness Saturday morning when they swept the LCSC Warriors 7-0, who are ranked 17th in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
It was a good way to start off the season for a team of mostly freshman.
“They’re a nationally ranked NAIA team,” Beaman said. “It’s a good confidence builder.”
After the big win over LCSC, the Vandals had the confidence they needed to compete against the 50th - ranked Washington State Cougars where they were not surprised to run into some challenging matches.
The Vandals competed in Pullman on Saturday evening, but their built up confidence wasn’t enough to defeat WSU as they fell to the Cougars 0-7.
Beaman said he knew they were going to be tough matches.
“They’re a little better than us right now and have a lot more experience,” Beaman said.
The Vandals put up a good fight against the Cougars and Beaman said this “gives us hope.”
The team knew this would be a tough way to start the season, but the coaching staff says they are happy with how the team played.
“It was a great start,” said assistant coach Mariel Tinnirello. “We’ve got mostly freshman and they all played really well.”
Tinnirello said the weekend taught the team a lot.
“We know what to work on now,” she said.
The team is getting ready to take on Eastern Washington University on Wednesday.
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