Moscow is not exactly at sea level, but 2,500 feet is nothing compared to the altitudes where the Vandal women’s tennis team competed Friday and Saturday, winning two in Colorado and losing one in Wyoming.
Colorado State, Idaho’s first stop, sits at about twice the altitude of Moscow. The Vandals beat the Rams 5-2 and Idaho coach Daniel Pollock said it was a great win on the road.
“Playing at that altitude, in their home facility, with a lot of people watching is definitely a good win for us and I was very happy to get a win there,” Pollock said.
Thin air allowed the ball to move much faster and Idaho adjusted well, sweeping the three doubles matches and losing at No. 3 and No. 6 spots in singles.
The Vandals didn’t travel far for their Saturday match against Northern Colorado, another mile-high match up. Pollock said Northern Colorado looked exactly how he expected, fast and in Idaho’s face, but the Vandals did not play how Pollock hoped.
“We did not play good doubles and I was disappointed with the girls and kind of challenged them to go out and get some pride back in singles,” Pollock said.
Idaho dropped the doubles point but won four out of six singles matches to win 4-3. Pollock said the score was too close for comfort, but Idaho dug deep to get the win. He said freshman Sophie Vickers contributed greatly to the victory and not only against Northern Colorado.
“Sophie had a great first two days,” Pollock said. “She is really solid, for a freshman she is kind of taking a leadership role in doubles and she just kind of quietly gets stuff done for us in singles too.”
Almudena Sanz finished 5-1 for Idaho with her only loss coming in doubles against the No. 1 doubles team in the region — University of Wyoming. Wyoming was Idaho’s third and toughest match of the weekend, and Idaho’s only loss.
Idaho attempted to keep the winning streak alive, but understood it was an underdog heading into the match. Wyoming is another 2,000 feet higher elevation at 7,000 feet, and ranked No. 63 in the nation. Sophomore Bety Flores said Idaho did well to only lose 5-2.
“I think it was pretty high up here and it was a long weekend so that affected us a little bit too,” Flores said.
She said the Vandals were a little intimidated facing such stiff competition, but next time Idaho might be able to beat Wyoming. Pollock said he was pleased with how the Vandals played in Wyoming after their nail biter against the Rams.
“Almu (Sanz) won at singles at No. 2 and Bety won, so picking up wins at 7,000 feet against a team that is used to playing there and is extremely good is very promising,” Pollock said.
He said it took the Vandals a while to acclimate to the elevation in Colorado and Wyoming.
“We had to change the way we play,” Pollock said. “I knew that going in and we have been hammering that into the girls all week but when they got here I think they finally saw why.”
He said high altitude is a different ball game and adjustments were crucial to the two wins Idaho netted.
“We beat the teams that I really wanted to beat and that’s really all you can ask,” Pollock said.
He said his team is a bit beaten up and not feeling well, so it will take this week to rest and get healthy before facing BYU Saturday in Pullman.
Charles Crowley can be reached at [email protected]