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Bronco tennis travels to
National Indoor Championships
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Coming off a big win over William and Mary college, the
Broncos’ spirits are up entering this weekend’s
illustrious National Men’s Indoor Championship tournament.
The team will begin competition today, and continue through
Saturday, at the biggest indoor team tournament in collegiate
tennis.
A confident head coach Greg Patton said he expects his team to
put on a great show this weekend.
“This is a great opportunity for us to go out and show
what we can do. We have a chance to get in about three or more
matches against top 10 teams,” Patton said.
Each of the top 13 teams in the nation will be present at this
battle of the early season elite. The first 13 seeds for the
tournament follow the rankings, 31st ranked Harvard takes the 14th
seed, now 32nd ranked BSU takes the 15th seed, and Tulsa has the
last seed. BSU will start off with a great opportunity to strut
their stuff against the number two team in the nation, Baylor. The
winner will move on to play the winner of the Mississippi (7) vs.
Washington (11) match-up. Coach Patton isn’t intimidated in
the least bit.
“I believe we are a top 10 team. We are dangerous. I think
we can turn some heads up in Seattle. I wouldn’t want to play
us right now,” Patton said.
Each of the 16 teams entered, qualified for this tournament last
fall. BSU got their bid when they won the Regional Tournament last
Nov. The Broncos took the first seed entering a playoff involving
the top four of the 24 teams in the region. They started by
defeating fourth-seeded Colorado and then beat BYU in Regional
Championship to qualify for Thursday’s tournament.
This year, Boise Stat e is a perfect 3-0 in dual competition
thus far. They also have three players ranked in the top 100 in
singles: senior Guilliame Bouvier, 41; junior Matias Silva, 66; and
sophomore Thomas Schoek, 87. Also, Bouvier and Schoek are ranked
42nd in doubles. Silva recently won the national title in Peru, and
Bouvier and Schoek continue to improve.
Coach Patton compares his team to Frodo and Sam in the last
chapter of the Lord of the Rings. He said they are a quiet, sneaky
team on the verge of making a lot of noise around the world of
collegiate tennis.
“The guys are just starting to get some confidence,”
explained Patton. “They play with no fear. They don’t
worry about losing or letting each other down. We got the magic to
get the job done.”
They are also spending most of their time away from “the
Shire,” as they only have five home matches this season,
three of which are in the final weeks of the season. Their one home
standing of the season was win over 47th ranked William and Mary,
who just recently beat Hawaii 6-1 and knocking off 33rd ranked San
Diego State. Boise State took it to the Tribe in a closer match
than the score shows. They came away with a 6-1 win.
The Broncos get two in a row at home next week, Oregon on Feb.
13 and Furman on Feb. 15.
The team is hoping for a good showing at the match as it will be
the last time they see the home crowd until Mar. 24 at the Boise
Invitational. Who knows, by then, coach Patton might have his team
just where he wants them – can you say “top
10”?
Jeremy Rasmussen
Sports Reporter
The Arbiter
