When the Idaho men’s tennis team entered the offseason last year, the Vandals were the reigning Big Sky Conference champions and had qualified for the NCCA Tournament.
However, the Vandals faced a challenge when former head coach Jeff Beaman left the program and signed on as the head coach of West Alabama last July.
Beaman coached the Vandals for eight years, earning national recognition for both the men’s and women’s tennis programs. In his last year with Idaho, Beaman won Big Sky Coach of the Year.
Former Vandal Abid Akbar was hired to replace Beaman. The newly signed head coach did not waste any time in letting his team know that he had the goal of winning the conference title and advancing deeper into the NCAA Tournament.
“Everybody has seen what it means to be part of the tournament and play against USC,” Akbar said. “They want to be in the tournament again. Once you’ve been there you feel like you belong there and I think they can be there this year if they stay healthy and keeping working like they are.”
Senior Odon Barta, last season’s Big Sky Player of the Year, said the Vandals must be able to adapt to the season schedule if they reach the NCAA Tournament.
“The way our schedule is set up is most of the time we play lower level teams at the start of the season,” Barta said. “It gives us a good chance to prepare for the harder opponents and our goal is to win the harder matches.”
The Vandals defeated Northern Arizona 4-2 last April to win the program’s 11th Big Sky title, its first since the 1978 season.
Akbar said his team’s goal is to move past the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Vandals fell in the first round to USC 4-0 last May.
When Akbar accepted the Idaho position, he said was aware of the team’s prior success.
“Jeff has done an excellent job for Idaho,” Akbar said. “He took an average program and made it to one of the best regional teams in tennis.”
The Vandals new head coach said he immediately recognized the talent of the Idaho roster.
“I was taking over a well-known program that already had good players on the team,” Akbar said. “But I had to fill big shoes and tried to work hard every day, trying to keep the team’s success where it is and getting it better.”
Akbar was part of the Vandal squad from 2009-2013. Akbar was recognized with multiple awards, including first-team all-Western Athletic Conference honors in both singles and doubles in the spring of 2013.
When his collegiate career ended, Akbar spent the two seasons as the assistant coach for both men’s and women’s team before being hired to replace Beaman.
Akbar has led the Vandals to a 6-2 record this spring, including a crucial 4-3 win over Gonzaga Feb. 15.
“Being 5-1 instead of 4-2 gave our guys a huge boost,” Akbar said. “Had we lost to Gonzaga then everything would have been different. Right now everyone is hungrier and motivated.”
Akbar said the team’s success requires dedication for the Vandals to achieve the preseason goals.
“We have a very solid group of guys who are committed to get better,” Akbar said. “When Idaho won the Big Sky title last year we had a young team. But I have full belief in them as they age and mature, they’re going to get better and better.”
Akbar said he keeps the team motivated and conditioned. His main training focus for the team is to become faster on the court.
Akbar said his job as the head coach has become easier over the past few weeks because of the team’s passion for improving as competitors.
Barta said he has seen a positive impact for the program since Akbar became head coach.
“Since we had Abid, our team has been doing a little bit more practicing and it has become a bit tougher,” Barta said. “We’ve been focusing a lot on preparing on our conditioning. Even though Jeff left, we have a good team so I don’t think it has affected us to win the Big Sky this season.”
Barta said it was important that the team earn a win over the weekend before entering a difficult stretch of the spring season.
“The long period of rest, having spring break, traveling and playing a lot will definitely be challenging,” Barta said. “If we can just keep practicing the way we are and focusing on getting better each day, we’ll definitely be prepared for spring break.”
Luis Torres can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @TheLTFiles