-
1 of 10
-
2 of 10
-
3 of 10
-
4 of 10
-
5 of 10
-
6 of 10
-
7 of 10
-
8 of 10
-
9 of 10
-
10 of 10
Women’s tennis rides into WAC Championships
Archive
Comments
Story
The Boise State women’s tennis team needs to win three more matches to earn a bid to the National Collegiate Athletics Association tournament later this spring.
The Broncos earned the No. 2 seed in the tournament and will face Utah State in the first round.
All matches will be played at either the Appleton Tennis Center or the Boise Racquet and Swim Club. All of the Bronco matches will be played at the Appleton Tennis Center.
The No. 63 Broncos are riding a 12-match winning streak and posted a 20-3 record this season.
During the winning streak Boise State has swept the doubles point in each of the duals, posting 36 consecutive doubles victories.
Utah State, the Broncos’ first-round opponent, is 4-12 this season, and has lost each of its last seven matches. Against ranked opponents, the Aggies are 0-4.
The Broncos and Aggies met April 13, at the Appleton Tennis Center, with Boise State posting a 7-0 shut-out victory.
But the real competition for the Broncos in this tournament is in the form of the rival Fresno State Bulldogs.
“On paper yeah,” BSU head coach Mark Tiche
The great thing about a tournament, though, is that despite the regular-season records, every team has a chance to win, all nine teams in the WAC.
“It’s just an exciting tournament.” Tichenor said. “Its so much fun getting to play in this tournament. The level of competition in tennis just rises for this tournament. We’re like every other team. We want to win it. We want a chance to go to the NCAA’s and stuff and I’m sure all nine teams have that same goal.”
Despite the Broncos’ success this season, they have a solid idea of what they need to do to excel in this tournament
“If we overlook somebody and just say that we’re going to be playing Fresno State in the finals, we’re going to be watching the finals; we’re not going to be playing,” Tichenor said. “We’ve had a really good attitude this year, taking it one match at a time and not looking past anybody. We just have to keep doing the same thing.”
The women have a certain group mentality that has made them more than just a team this season. Call it family, call it a sisterhood, call it what you like, just know that the team is more than a collection of individuals.
“We’ve had a really good season,” Tichenor said. “Everybody has worked so hard. Everybody has been such a big part of it. We’ve never been as ready as we are for this tournament. This is the most prepared team we have brought here.”
The Broncos are ready, no matter what happens this weekend. The weather is supposed to be nice, but the Idaho Spring can be a variant beast.
“Hopefully the weather is fine and we can play (at the Appleton Tennis Center),” Tichenor said. “If it’s not, it’s not. We’ve played at Rice
If it does rain, the matches would be moved to the BOAS complex under the bubbles.
The biggest advantage the Broncos have is that they are playing on their home court this weekend.
“Hopefully, the positive energy and the Bronco Nation comes out and supports us like they’ve always done,” Tichenor said. “That should be an extra lift for all of our players. The energy, the excitement level should be incredible.”
The Broncos have twice finished in third place at the WAC Championship, last year and in 2002. The last time the Broncos were a two-seed was also in 2002.
The BSU vs. Utah State match begins at noon today at the Appleton Tennis Center.
Dustin Lapray
Sports Editor (future Managing Editor)
