Women’s tennis kicks off season
After more than two months without a match, the Utah State University women’s tennis team is opening the regular season over the three-day weekend with three matches in four days.
Since ending the preseason in October, the Aggies practiced throughout the fall before taking three weeks off for Christmas Break. USU resumed practice following the break.
Aggie Head Coach Chris Wright said it would have been nice to have more time to prepare, but the team is excited to get the season started.
The Aggies will open on the road at the University of Utah Friday at 5 p.m.
Similar to other sports, Wright said a rivalry exists with Utah.
“We have a lot of pride and want to do well against the in-state schools,” Wright said.
Wright said he would have preferred to play a match before meeting Utah to give the Aggies a chance to prepare, but Utah will also be going in cold.
“It’s their first match too,” Wright said. “They’ll be in the same boat.”
Following the match at Utah, the Aggies will return home for two matches.
Portland State University will be in town Saturday and meet the Aggies at 2 p.m. USU will conclude its two-match homestand against the Air Force Academy Monday beginning at noon.
Both matches will be held at the Sports Academy and Racquet Club in Logan. Utah State only has four home matches scheduled for the season, and Wright said it will be important to take advantage of the opportunity to play at home, especially with the short turnaround time from Friday’s match.
“We’re excited to have home matches,” Wright said. “We want to get off to a good start.”
Utah State will play the first of two Big West Conference matches in February against California Polytechnic State University. The second conference match will be against Idaho in March.
Wright said the Aggies try to schedule as many conference opponents as possible, but because most of the teams are in California, traveling makes scheduling matches difficult.
Instead of playing conference matches, Wright said all matches count toward the standings. When seedings for the Big West Conference Championship are made, conference results, record against common opponents and schedule strength are taken into account.
USU will play teams primarily from the Intermountain area including Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Arizona.
The opponents Utah State will face are strong and for the most part result in “good, solid matches,” Wright said.
“There is not an easy match on our schedule,” he said.
The Aggies have six returning players this year, three of them seniors, along with four new players.
“This is one of the stronger teams we’ve had since I’ve been around,” Wright said.
With the returning experience, Wright said the younger players will have an opportunity to learn and get adjusted to collegiate play.
“It always helps [the younger players] when teammates pass on what has helped them,” Wright said.
The players who compete for a given match will be determined by past results and how they do in head-to-head challenge matches, Wright said.
“I think the team is good enough that all 10 players will get in and contribute periodically throughout the year,” he said.
Following their match against the Falcons, the Aggies will travel to Pocatello, Idaho, to face Idaho State University next Wednesday. USU will play its next home match against Weber State University on March 6.