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Men’s tennis rebounds from WAC upset
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The No. 32 Boise State men’s tennis season could be compared to a roller coaster ride. Thoe high points have left them exhilarated with that kind of queasy feeling as you step off the train.
The No. 1 seeded Broncos’ loss to No. 4 seeded Hawai’i, ranked No. 92 nationally, in the opening round of the Western Athletic Conference Championships in Las Cruces, N.M. was that queasy feeling.
The loss left the team wondering if they were going to be attending the NCAA Championships.
“They named 60 teams . and it went down to the last four,” BSU Head Coach Greg Patton said. “As time went on you start to panic. I was thinking about making a b-line for the [Boise] River and just floating off to sea, never appearing again. Thank God that didn’t happen.”
BSU has ruled the WAC with an iron fist from 2004-07 with three consecutive titles until their hopes of an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships were shattered against Hawai’i.
“I can sleep again,” Patton said. “The best way to get through sleep deprivation is to get into the NCAA (Championships). That’s Mount Everest. The next thing, once you get to the top of Mount Everest, is to survive.”
Survival is something the Broncos have achieved throughout the season. They had one of the toughest schedules in the NCAA, Patton said.
Having faced some of the best that men’s tennis has to offer might be the experience that the team needs to conquer their Everest.
The Broncos have faced four of the top 15 teams in the country including No. 2 Ohio State University, No. 3 UCLA and No. 6 University of Southern California.
They lost to all of them. BSU did come close against No. 15 University of Illinois, losing once again, 3-4.
The Broncos have faced other tough teams who they defeated. No. 21 University of Alabama and No. 26 University of Notre Dame, each lost to BSU in close matches, and will find their place on the same side of the bracket.
BSU will begin its NCAA Championship run against the No. 31 University of California Golden Bears, a team that the Broncos have not faced since the 2003-04 season.
“Cal is a great team,” Patton said. “They’re pretty close to us . It’s going to be one of the more interesting matches in the NCAA [Championships].”
If they can defeat California, the Broncos will likely have to face USC. The Broncos can defeat the Trojans, Patton said.
USC beat BSU 2-5 leaving room to believe that they could make their way into the round of 16.
“They’re beatable,” Patton said. “We have played there before. We saw it. We realized we could win.”
They are not an intimidating team for the Broncos, Patton said.
He is planning on utilizing the remaining time until the tournament to get better, healed and confident.
Patton, like all wise coaches, doesn’t look too far ahead in the bracket. He wants to stay focused on California until the match agains USC arrives.
BSU will face California in Los Angeles on May 9 in their first step toward an NCAA title. The first and second rounds will last through May 11 before moving on to the round of 16.
KIRK BELL
Sports Writer
