The Creighton Bluejays women’s tennis team saw its four-match win streak come to an end last Sunday against the University of Idaho Vandals. Playing inside Hanscom Tennis Center, the Bluejays fell 4-3 in a nearly three-hour contest, bringing the Bluejays’ record to 4-2 on the season.
In a reflection on the match, Head Coach Tom Lilly acknowledged a slow start for the Jays, as well as the challenges of playing against Idaho’s taller hitters.
“We started off the match a little bit slow, and…doubles came out a little flat. …Credit to [Idaho], but we’re playing on Hanscom tennis courts that are really fast,” he said.“I don’t want to take anything away from them, but they clearly had bigger servers than we did…[and]somewhat bigger hitters, and that’s going to favor them on these courts for sure. … That might have been the difference, but they have a strong team, and the credit goes to them.”
Lilly attributed part of Idaho’s success to the surface at Hanscom Tennis Center, which, like many indoor courts, is faster due to its smoother, less gritty surface. This allows the ball to skid rather than slow down with friction, favoring powerful servers and aggressive hitters.
Until the weather gets warmer, indoor courts will continue to be a consistent factor the Jays must navigate both at home and on the road. With indoor conditions leading to faster points, endurance and quick reflexes become even more critical. Lilly acknowledged that adjusting to these conditions has been a work in progress for the team.
“When you play on fast courts like these, the points are over a bit quicker, so that’s something that we have struggled with [while] trying to get our conditioning right,” he said.
Despite the loss, there are several things the Bluejays can be proud of from this match, particularly in performances from seniors Valerie Negin and Bianca Rademacher. The duo, who began the season ranked No. 75 in the country in doubles, secured a 6-3 victory over Lena Beckx and Ida Johansson.
However, Idaho secured the overall doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles;Creighton’s Olivia Minikel and Ana Paula Martinez fell 6-4 and Alem Cote and Karli Vo dropped their match 6-2.
In singles play, Rademacher continued her personal win streak, earning her fifth win of the spring with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Idaho’s Annabel Davis. Idaho responded with key victories at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 5 singles, clinching the overall match win.
Even with the match already decided, the Bluejays continued to battle the Vandals. Pippa Roy delivered a hard-fought comeback at No. 4 singles, rallying from a first-set loss (7-6 [8-6]) to win 7-6 (7-5), 10-6. Meanwhile, Cote opened strong with a 6-2 first set win before Idaho’s Valentina Rodas forced a third set with a 6-4 second-set victory. Cote stayed composed, ultimately securing a 7-5 win in the decisive set.
Looking ahead, Lilly remains optimistic about the team’s individual performances and the path forward:
“You know, Bianca [Rademacher] is playing fantastic…. She’s just been playing really well, so that’s great to see at the top spot. One doubles [team] is just playing great. … Yesterday, all three of our teams were on [in the match against Drake], and we didn’t play poorly in the doubles today—we just got a little bit of a slow start against some big hitters,” Lilly said.“Moving forward, we’ll hope to get people a little more healthy—we’ve got two good players [who] we thought were going to be starters this year [who] were on the bench today, and one of them is out for the whole year, so we’re just going to try to get the rest of them as healthy as we possibly can and manage the season that way.”
Despite the setback, the Bluejays have shown resilience and determination. With a strong core of players and continued growth, they’ll look to regain momentum as they head into their next match against Lindenwood on February 14.