College Tennis News - Boise State Takes on Washington and No. 43 Oregon in Eugene

WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK

Boise State (9-2, 1-0 MW) closes six weeks of road trips this weekend when the Broncos travel to Eugene, Ore., to face two Pacific 12 Conference opponents in the Washington Huskies (6-4, 0-1 Pac-12) and the 43rd-ranked Oregon Ducks (9-1, 0-0 Pac-12).

WEEKEND FACTS

QUICK LOOK AT OPPONENTS

Washington: The Huskies have own four straight matches entering the Bronco contest. Last week they defeated Seattle U. twice by 6-0 scores.
Oregon: The Ducks are hosting both Washington and Boise State this weekend. They enter the weekend 9-1 overall. They are led by Robin Cambier who is 8-0 in duals playing on courts one (4-0) and two (4-0) and is 17-2 this year. Kevin Farin is 6-1 primarily at No. 1 and No. 2 singles.

A LOOK BACK AT THE BLUE GRAY CLASSIC, HISTORY IN THE MAKING

Boise State defeated No. 36 Alabama (W 4-0), No. 21 Clemson (W 4-3) and No. 37 Virginia Commonwealth “VCU” (W 4-2) last weekend to claim the Broncos’ second-straight Blue Gray National Tennis Classic championship at Lagoon Park Tennis Center in Montgomery, Ala. All three teams were ranked higher than the Broncos entering the tournament.
The Blue and Orange was forced to rally from behind for the victories in both the semifinal and the championship, just like they did last year on their run to the title.
It was the third BGNTC title in Boise State program history as the Broncos became only the fourth team ever to repeat in back-to-back years and the third to win the tournament three times.
Tournament honors went to freshman Brendan McClain who was named tournament MVP, while senior Andy Bettles garnered the Sportsmanship Award.

BRONCOS SURGE UP NATIONAL RANKINGS

Boise State catapulted 26 spots up the national rankings to No. 15 following the Broncos second-consecutive Blue Gray National Tennis Classic championship last weekend in Montgomery, Ala.

TOUGH SCHEDULE

To Boise State’s credit it has played an extremely tough schedule which includes five straight weeks on the road where the Broncos have won eight consecutive matches to enter this week at 9-2 overall and 1-0 in Mountain West Conference play.
They have faced seven nationally ranked opponents to date and have gone 5-2 against them.
They have recorded victories over current No. 21 Clemson (W 4-3), No. 29 VCU (W 4-2), No. 37 Alabama (W 4-0), No. 51 Utah (W 5-2) and No. 65 Drake (W 4-1), all away from Boise.
The Broncos lone losses are to current No. 8 Baylor (L 4-0) at Waco, Texas, in the second week and at home against No. 23 Northwestern (L 5-2) on the opening weekend.
Boise State still has seven more teams in the current national rankings on their schedule which include: at No. 43 Oregon (March 1), No. 44 Virginia Tech (March 15) in Boise, No. 47 Minnesota (March 9) in Boise, No. 52 Stanford (April 1) on the road, No. 59 Marquette (March 22) in Boise, as well as conference rivals No. 63 Air Force (April 19) and No. 64 San Diego State (April 12), both in Boise.
MW opponent No. 71 Nevada is not on the regular season schedule as they are in the West Division, but the two could meet in the conference tournament in late April at Fresno, Calif.

BETTLES NATIONALLY RANKED

Bronco senior Andy Bettles (15-8 overall) is ranked 83rd nationally in singles during the most recent ITA rankings released.

BRONCOS REGIONALLY RANKED

Singles: Boise State has four Broncos ranked in the top 20 in the ITA’s Mountain Region led by Andy Bettles at No. 3, Thomas Tenreiro at No. 9, Garrett Patton No. 10 and Brendan McClain at No. 14.
Doubles: The team of Garrett Patton and Brendan McClain are ranked as the number two doubles pair in the region.

FOLLOW THE BRONCOS

QUICK LOOK AT BOISE STATE

The Record: Boise State is 9-2 overall entering this weekend and have won eight straight matches, all on the road. Last year the Broncos went 20-10 overall and 8-1 in conference.
The Broncos at Home: Boise State is 1-1 at home in 2014. Traditionally the Broncos are hard to beat at home in Boise. They went 10-1 at home during the 2012-13 season.
Boise State on the Road: The Broncos are in their sixth and final weekend on the road since Jan. 25th. Boise State is 8-1 on the road with its lone loss coming at then-seventh-ranked Baylor.