Attitude and determination are two important factors for the San Diego State women’s tennis team (13-12; 2-4 Western Athletic Conference) as it heads into the WAC Championship Tournament today in Tulsa, Okla.
“If we go into the tournament and just have the right mindset and be aggressive when it’s time to be aggressive, then I think we have a reasonable chance to do quite well and can conceivably win it,” SDSU head coach Peter Mattera said.
The WAC Tournament is a 16-team, double-elimination contest in which all of the schools from the conference are invited to attend. If a team loses in the first round, it goes on to the consolation round. As soon as a team loses its second match in the tourney, you can stick a fork in them because they’re done.
By Saturday, there will be a final seeding of the teams in the WAC ranked one through 16.
Mattera said he’s going into the tournament with guarded optimism. Meaning that despite the fact that the Aztecs have an abundance of talent, they’ve shown they can play very poorly at times.
“I know we have the talent, but I’m guarded in that I don’t know which group is going to show up on a particular day,” Mattera said. “Our best performances have come when we’ve just stepped on the court mentally ready to play and used our strengths to go after the other players’ weaknesses.”
In a season of ups and downs, SDSU has beaten the 14th- and 24th-ranked teams in the nation. It has been ranked as highly as 25th but currently stands as the 31st-ranked school in the land.
Aztecs junior Jeanette Bhaguandas is confident going into today’s competition.
“I’ve seen all the players before and I know they’re all beatable,” Bhaguandas said. “We have a good chance of winning it if we can just believe in ourselves.”
With the addition of five new schools to the conference for tennis this season, the WAC breeds competition.
Brigham Young head coach Clark Barton said the WAC is obviously stronger than it’s ever been.
The conference boasts five schools ranked inside the top 34 of the country. They are University of Nevada-Las Vegas at No. 15, New Mexico at No. 22, Brigham Young at No. 30, SDSU at No. 31 and Fresno State at No. 34. The WAC has never had so many schools seeded this highly before.
“The tournament is going to be extremely tough,” Fresno State head coach Irene Harris said.
SDSU senior Tamara Bridges, who has played in four WAC tourneys, said, “Everyone’s so competitive and intense. It’s a time to know who’s going to come out on top and be number one in the WAC.”
In many coaches’ minds, UNLV is a team that seems to stand out and be a slight favorite. It features the WAC’s highest ranked player, Marianne Vallin, who stands as the 10th best competitor in the country.
“UNLV is probably the best team in the WAC,” Mattera said.
SDSU played UNLV tough earlier in the year only to lose 5-4. It was a match in which Aztecs’ No. 1 player Maggie Cole beat Vallin.
“I’m going into this tournament fighting for every single point like it’s my last point,” Cole said. “I’m going to become a grinder.”
UNLV head coach Ola Malmqvist said his team should be the No. 1 seed so they’re definitely looking to win the tournament.
“It’s going to be tough, though. Tougher than I first thought it would be,” Malmqvist said. “There are about seven teams that have the capabilities of winning the whole thing.”
SDSU only needs to worry about taking care of itself.
“It all depends on how competitively this team shows up, if they come out ready to play,” Mattera said. “They’ve demonstrated this year that they can beat anyone. By the same token, if they come out flat and uninspired, they’ve proven that they can lose to most anyone.”
