After dominating two out of three opponents in Pullman, Idaho women’s tennis team heads to Spokane Friday to face the Bulldogs and the Vandals said they are ready.
Coach Daniel Pollock said Idaho should have the upper hand because it has played more matches this semester. He said the girls looked great in practice, and are better prepared for the match.
“Gonzaga is a good team, they are really deep and talented but I think our girls are better disciplined, stronger players so hopefully that will pull through for us,” Pollock said.
He said Gonzaga will be a lot like Montana with players that were really talented out of high school, all being in the top 100 in juniors before entering college.
Gonzaga’s only match this season was last Sunday against Seattle University, in which the Bulldogs staged a huge comeback to barely squeeze a 4-3 win. The Vandals have had five match-ups, including a 6-1 victory over Seattle.
Sophomore Alejandra Lozano said the Vandals feel confident they can defeat the Gonzaga team they met in fall competition.
“They looked pretty strong but I think we are even more prepared this semester and we have a good chance at beating them,” Lozano said.
In the fall, Idaho beat Gonzaga’s No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams easily. The Vandals dropped one singles match to the Bulldogs.
“Vicky lost a tough match 3-2 to their No. 2 girl but it was far from Vicky’s best tennis from the fall so we’re not worried about that,” Pollock said.
The Vandals play the Bulldogs every season, alternating home and away matches, and it’s become a bit of a rivalry.
“It’s definitely a local rivalry that’s good especially with both teams getting a lot better over the past few years,” Pollock said. “Now it’s a pretty high quality rivalry too as we are both moving up in our respective conferences.”
Pollock said this is one of the matches he circled at the beginning of the year as one he thinks would be really great to win, especially playing away from home.
Last year the Vandals fell just short, losing 3-4 but Alejandra Lozano said the team is not letting that bother them.
“I lost last year, but in the fall season I played the girl that beat me last year and I beat her every time so it’s OK,” Lozano said.
She said Idaho has been practicing hard for this match and feels ready for whatever the Bulldogs bring to the court.
The team does not want to look too far ahead but knows they will meet an even bigger rival in the Boise next week. Pollock said it’s important to go into the BSU match with confidence because Boise is not an easy place to play.
“Especially when the Vandals come to town, the Broncos pull in a lot of people and it’s not the nicest atmosphere to play in so I think it’s important to go in with some self-belief,” Pollock said.
He said win or lose this weekend, they will head to Boise with confidence but a win this weekend would help momentum.