Netters set for three straight matches
With the season winding down, the Utah State University women’s tennis team finds itself on the road for one last trip before the Big West Conference championships.
The Aggies will travel to Boise, Idaho, for three matches in as many days starting Friday at 1 p.m. with Boise State University, then playing the University of Denver Saturday at 11:30 a.m. and finishing with the University of Idaho Sunday at 9 a.m.
The match against Idaho will be only the Aggies’ second conference match of the season. Their first was a loss to California Polytechnic State University in February.
Utah State was scheduled to play at Idaho State University Friday and Saturday, but the match was canceled and the Aggies have played only one match since March 6.
“We’re raring to go,” Aggie coach Chris Wright said. “I think the last month has been hard on everybody.”
Wright said the matches in Boise are scheduled to be held outside and should serve as a good transition to the conference championships held during the week of April 21 in Ojai, Calif.
“We just have to get used to playing in the elements,” he said. “It’s a little bit lower elevation [in Boise] than it is here so it’s kind of midway between where we’ll be playing in conference.”
Similar to playing Weber State University, who the Aggies beat for the first time in team history March 6, Aggie Sarah Lowe said Utah State will be looking for their first victory against Boise.
“I don’t think we’ve ever beat Boise State,” she said. “We can look at that as a Weber State kind of match because we were able to beat them [WSU] after so long.”
Lowe also said she’ll be looking for her first victory against Boise State’s No. 1 singles player, Renate Stoop.
“She’s about as good as it gets for the conference,” Lowe said. “She’s a strong player. I’ve never beat her. I have a lot of motivation to try to come back and get a little bit of revenge.”
Lowe, who was off for several weeks due to sickness prior to the Aggies’ last match against Weber on April 3, said she has recovered, although she did have some soreness in her arm against Weber.
“I didn’t play at all, then played [in practice] to try to get into a groove,” she said. “I threw my arm out in a serve in the first of my doubles match. I think I just over-muscled it and my arm wasn’t warmed up yet because I hadn’t played.”
Lowe said her arm is now doing fine.
Playing three straight matches should also be good preparation for the team, Wright said.
“There haven’t been that many times we’ve gone back-to-back,” he said. “I think physically we’re going pretty good.”