The Gonzaga/Eastern Washington tennis tournament starts Friday and the Vandal men will be there for their first official tournament of the year.
Most of the Vandals have participated in some open events on their own, like the Campus Challenge on Sept. 10, but Jeff Beaman, the director of tennis said official tournaments always bring more pressure.
“The men’s team is looking forward to kick off their play in the official fall tournaments,” Beaman said.
Official practice started just a couple weeks ago and the men have been practicing hard in preparation for the fall season. Beaman said overall the players are looking good but it will be nice to see them play outside of practice.
“I am excited to see how they do this weekend as converting your level of play in a practice situation to a competitive situation is what being good is all about,” Beaman said.
The Gonzaga/Eastern Washington Tournament will have several great teams putting their best players into the draws which should lead to some fierce competition.
“More schools are sending players to this tournament than in the past, and some of the top ones will be Oregon, Boise State and Portland,” Beaman said.
With the way the tournament is set up, all the players regardless of school affiliation are put into the same draws. This means there is a good chance the Vandals would end up playing against each other at some point in the tournament.
The action starts Friday at Gonzaga and will go through Sunday.
“We have a ton of talent and depth. We are waiting to hear on some eligibility issues, but if everybody is eligible and stays healthy this is the most talented team we have had at Idaho,” Beaman said.