After great performances in Colorado and Wyoming, Idaho sophomore Almudena Sanz was rewarded for her efforts with the Verizon WAC Player of the Week Award.
Sanz went 5-1 against solid teams, including No. 63 Wyoming. Idaho coach Daniel Pollock said he was thrilled with the way she performed.
“To go 5-1, beat the No. 2 player from a ranked team, and almost beat the No. 1 doubles team in the region, obviously her performances kind of speak for themselves,” Pollock said.
Both matches were Sunday against Wyoming which beat Idaho 5-2. Sanz first, in a brand new doubles pairing, went to a third-set tie-break with Simona Synkova/Veronica Popvici and lost 9-8(5). Sanz met Synkova again and won a hard-fought singles match 6-2, 6-3, (10-7) .
Sanz won the rest of her singles matches at the No. 2 spot, going 3-0 in singles. Sanz said she appreciates the recognition from the WAC.
“For me the WAC player of the week is a reward for my hard work done,” Sanz said in an email. “This means that I’m doing things right and it encourages me to keep fighting.”
She said the award helps, but what gives her the most confidence is how she felt on the court.
“I adapted to playing at high altitude, away from home, against high-level opponents with different styles of play so I am proud to have fought and won,” Sanz said.
Freshman Sophie Vickers played doubles with Sanz for the first two matches and said Sanz had a great weekend.
“Almu (Sanz) played probably the best she has played in doubles all season,” Vickers said. “And then she carried it over into singles and served well and she has a huge forehand that works to her advantage.”
Pollock said Sanz is an unbelievable fighter and does not stop until the point is over. He said her serves are as good as anyone he has ever worked with including some people that are now very successful on the pro tour.
Sanz knows her strengths as well and said they go beyond her shots.
“My biggest strengths are my forehand and my serve but above all my desire to play this sport every time and get better each day,” Sanz said.
Sanz said she started playing tennis when she was 7 years old and hasn’t stopped since. She said she loves the high level of competition and the professionalism.
“Having a good feeling on the court and forcing myself to win, I hate to lose,” Sanz said.
Senior and team captain Molly Knox said Sanz’s desire to win is apparent and that she has fun watching Sanz compete.
“She plays great tennis and watching her forehand is amazing,” Knox said. “One thing you can just always see on her face is how determined she is.”
Knox said Sanz always makes sure to say she is playing for her team — not just for herself.
“It’s nice to see her go out and play so hard not just for herself but for us too and it’s nice to see her get recognized for all the hard work,” Knox said.
Sanz credits the people around her with her award.
“My team is also part of this award, so I want to thank them for all the support that they gave me since I came here,” Sanz said. “I also want to thank my coach for all the advice that he gave me because he is helping me to improve a lot. I have a lot of confidence in him.”
Pollock has a lot of confidence in Sanz and says she can go wherever she wants with her tennis career.
“There’s things that can’t be worked on and there’s things that can be improved. I think it bodes great for the future that she is transitioning so well,” Pollock said.
He said Sanz’s performance proved how well she is transitioning to American collegiate-level college.
“We went on the road, did a lot of driving around to different places, and went to an environment that was kind of alien to us so for her to put a lot of work in and pull out some big results, it’s nice to get recognized for that and I think she truly deserved it,” Pollock said.
Pollock said he agrees with Sanz that this award goes to the team too and knows it will give them all a boost of confidence.
“They understand that in order to get these kind of awards you have to be successful as a team, not only an individual, and I think they all contributed to her getting this, even though it is an individual award,” Pollock said.
Sanz’s next chance to shine will be Saturday when Idaho meets BYU in Pullman and LCSC in Lewiston.