The Idaho Vandals women’s tennis team have been playing their best tennis over the past few games, and that continued this past weekend with two more victories. The Vandals first traveled to Ogden, Utah, where they defeated Weber State 6-1, before making the short drive to Logan, Utah, and winning 4-3 in a seven-match thriller over Utah State to move their record above .500 at (7-6, 2-0).
Weber State
On Friday, Feb. 27, the Vandals took on their second conference foe and first road test against the Weber State Wildcats, looking to extend their three-game winning streak. The Wildcats drew first blood, as senior Jessica Hill and sophomore Aleks Bozinovska defeated the junior duo of Jessica Matthews and Naomi Schraeder 6-3 in doubles.
Sophomore Hanna Koprowska and junior Ida Johansson got the Vandals on the board with a 6-3 victory over the Johnson sisters, junior Savannah and freshman Naomi. Sophomore Chenyue Xu and senior Valentina Rodas then clinched the doubles point for Idaho with a thrilling 7-6 win over freshman Nataly Valdivia Rojas and freshman Paulina Aleksandrowicz.
The Vandals carried that momentum into singles. Xu defeated Hill 6-4, 6-2 to give Idaho a 2-0 lead. Schraeder bounced back from her earlier doubles loss with a dominant 6-1, 6-2 victory over freshman Maggie Song.
Koprowska clinched the match victory with a 6-3, 7-6 win over Aleksandrowicz. Johansson extended the lead further with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Bozinovska to put the Vandals up 5-0. Rodas added to the cushion by defeating Naomi Johnson 6-3, 6-3. Rojas gave the Wildcats their lone point in the final match with a 6-4, 6-2 win over senior Mariam Hatem.
Utah State
Two days later on Sunday, March 1, the Vandals took on Utah State, and from the beginning it was a battle. The Aggies jumped out early in doubles. Sophomore Maria Paula Ramos Garcia and freshman Chahd Tourkhani combined for a 6-1 victory. Sophomore Natalie Paterova and freshman Sabina Pintea clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 victory giving Utah State a 1-0 lead.
Idaho responded in singles. Xu tied the score with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over freshman Terezia Mlkva. Schraeder gave the Vandals the lead with a 6-4, 6-4 win. Koprowska then extended the lead in a three-set thriller, with Paterova taking the first set 7-5 before Koprowska rebounded to win the second 6-4 and closed it out 6-3 in the third.
Ramos Garcia kept the Aggies in it with a 7-6, 6-2 win over Johansson, and Tourkhani tied the match at 3-3 with a dominant 6-0, 6-2 victory over Hatem, setting up a decisive final match between sophomore Soha Singh and Nadine Abid.
Singh took the first set 6-3 and never looked back, closing out Abid 6-3 in the second to give Idaho the 4-3 victory.
Idaho has now won five in a row and is finding its stride heading into the heart of conference play. With seven matches remaining before the Big Sky Championships, the Vandals look to keep their hot streak alive. They return home Saturday, March 7, to face the Montana Grizzlies at the P1FCU Kibbie Dome at 10 a.m.