As of Nov. 7 the Vandal men’s tennis season ended, and Idaho Director of Tennis Jeff Beaman is left with mixed emotions.
“We had some really strong results and at times we had results that I would have liked to see people do a little better but it was a great learning experience for the team,” Beaman said.
Beaman said the main goals of the fall season were to figure out doubles pairings and find out what needs to improve.
“We definitely know with
every guy what they need to
focus on in terms of conditioning and in terms of playing,” Beaman said.
He said it won’t be easy to determine the lineup next spring.
“You feel that Marius (Cirstea) is somewhere up at the top of the lineup, but then any guy on the team could be somewhere in that top six or out of it, so it’s going to be tough,” Beaman said.
Filip Fichtel, who red-shirted for the Vandals last season, said the team did not play to its full potential this fall.
“There were some good
results, like Marius and (Andrew) Dobbs winning regionals but besides that overall I think we could have done better,” Fichtel said.
The Vandals will have individual workouts until winter break and Beaman knows there is a lot of work to do.
“We’re going to hit the conditioning hard to use this last little bit of time to get ready for the team part of the season in the spring,” Beaman said.
Looking back at this time last year, Beaman said this season was similar in some ways. He said the team’s appearance at doubles nationals this year is huge, but last season’s big wins took players deeper into regional play.
He said the team’s depth is great because if they do suffer injuries it will not be so detrimental where as last year it would have been crushing to lose Lachlan Reed or Cirstea.
The Vandals added some new faces this season and Beaman said he was pleased that they all came in and played at a high
level. He said team cohesion made the season more successful all around.
“The thing that makes it great to coach this team is they get along, they work hard together,” Beaman said. “We’re not dealing with any prima donnas, were not dealing with tough personalities, they are just a great group.”