The Vandal women’s tennis team didn’t have any top finishers, but still played well at the ITA Regional Tournament in Las Vegas.
The Vandals started the tournament strong in singles play advancing four of their six players through the first round of the tournament, much to the liking of coach Daniel Pollock.
“It’s always nice to come out of the first round with more wins than losses … especially for this size of a tournament,” Pollock said.
Pollock said overall there were a lot of bright spots for each Vandal and while it would have been nice to get all of them out of the first round, he can’t complain at four out of six.
Victoria Lozano, Idaho’s top seed, advanced through the first round with ease.
“She was on a whole different level than her competitor was in the first round,” Pollock said.
After delays caused Victoria Lozano to wait for her second match, Pollock said she came out a little slow, which cost her the match, but he is not worried after the great fall Lozano had.
“She has a lot of matches under her belt and she knows what she needs to work on to get better and be ready for the spring and I think she will get there — no worries,” Pollock said.
He said it was nice to see Almudena Sanz, in her first college tournament, advance to the round of 32. She was the only Vandal to advance past the round of 64.
Sanz beat a top-seeded player from nationally ranked Utah in her first round and then beat a top 50 U.S. junior player, who is a freshman at Colorado State.
“It was definitely a really good way for Sanz to start her freshman campaign,” Pollock said.
The Vandals also competed several new doubles pairings including Alejandra Lozano with Sanz, Beatrice Flores with Molly Knox and Victoria Lozano with Sophie Vickers.
Alejandra Lozano and Sanz won a match against a New Mexico State team and then lost a match to a highly ranked BYU team, but Pollock said they looked great for their first time ever as a doubles team.
Knox and Flores had a tough draw getting matched up against a nationally ranked team out of Wyoming, but came back strong with three straight wins in the consolation draw.
Victoria Lozano and freshman Sophie Vickers performed best of Idaho’s doubles teams.
They made it through to the round of 16 to face the top-seeded team in the tournament and went up in the match 4-3 before things faded and the Vandals fell behind and eventually lost the match.
The ITA Regional Tournament is the last event on the schedule for the women’s tennis team until the spring season. Pollock said the fall season gave him a great chance to see what the team is capable of, especially its newcomers.
“I’m really happy with the newcomers,” Pollock said. “They have lived up to expectations and more — competing like players that have been in college tournaments for years.”
Pollock said Flores is a great player that will be a “fantastic addition to the team,” Vickers is already playing the top spot in doubles and battling away in singles, and Sanz came out in her first tournament and beat two No.1 players, which Pollock said is “not bad at all” for newcomers.
Pollock said the fall season is a time for the team to make improvements and to get some matches under their belt going forward into the spring. He said they still have three weeks left in their “very specific” practice progression.
“I think it went pretty well overall but we’re still not done with work and we got to get back on the court this week and keep making those improvements and getting ready for the spring,” Pollock said.
If there is one thing the Vandals have mastered already, it’s playing together as a team, Pollock said.
“This has got to be by far the best team I have worked with in terms of team cohesion,” Pollock said. “They love it, they compete for each other and they support each other at the tournaments.”
The Vandals won’t get their first shot at a team tournament until next semester. Their first match is Jan. 16, in Lewiston against Lewis-Clark State College.