The women’s tennis team returned to Appleton Tennis Center for the first time this season, finished the three day, ninth-annual Barb Chandler Classic tournament going 13-2 in singles and 5-4 in doubles.
“It was amazing to be back and see the team competing again,” Assistant Coach Shauna Heffernan said. “We had a lot of fun this weekend doing what we do best. This team is on a mission and these past three days were such a strong start for us. We have raised the standard in how we compete and I’m so proud of the team for holding themselves to that”
Day one of the Classic began with Stella Beldiman and Ella Prion eking out a close doubles win 8-7 against Utah. The Broncos were competitive throughout their final two doubles matches, but fell 8-7 and 8-2 to Washington State. Boise State bounced back in singles, winning all five matches.
“We needed to stay positive, be energetic, play our game, stay together,” Polakova said.
Grignac agreed, adding, “We’re just trying to be really aggressive in doubles and singles, practicing our energy.”
The Broncos started day two by winning all three doubles matches against Weber State, allowing only five games to their 24. Tereza Polakova carried with dominance as she closed out Washington 2-0, winning 6-2 in both matches. Boise State wrapped up the rest of singles with a 4-1 record for the day.
“This team has really stepped up a lot from last year,” assistant coach Heffernan said. “They’ve really set their intention on how they want to approach this year, how they want to compete, how united they want to be and how they want to attack challenges.”
Boise State’s only doubles victory on the third day came from a forfeit. While singles brought out true emotion from the Broncos to close out the tournament strong. Valentina Vachkova had the match of the day, going head to head against Utah, pushing the match back and forth to its third set, where she ultimately fell 7-5.
“These moments are all about mindset and your attitude,” assistant coach Heffernan said. “If we make it only about tennis and only about forehands and backhands in practice, then they’re never going to be ready for these moments.”
Boise State kept their spirits alive as they finished out the Barb Chandler Classic with an overall record of 18-6, including Beldiman and Polakova repeating as singles champions, and Beldiman/Piron winning doubles for the second consecutive year.
“Its a new season, we still need to improve our level of energy and figuring it out between each other,” Polakova said. “But, I don’t think we did a bad job at cheering for each other. It’s just the amount that we need”
The Broncos will travel to San Diego to play in the San Diego Invite from Sept. 24-27.
