The Team Mom — Molly Knox Profile

uiargonaut.com profiles University of Idaho women’s tennis player Molly Knox

Men’s tennis USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships

Good morning Vandal Nation: Oct. 19, 2011

It’s bye week here in Moscow, and despite the sorrows we’re still feeling from Saturday’s heartbreaking loss; soccer, volleyball and tennis have given us reason to keep faith in the Mighty Vandals.

FOOTBALL

• The Vandal football team dropped it’s fifth straight in a 31-24 nailbiter to New Mexico State in Las Cruces.
• The Argonaut’s Sean Kramer looked at the Seattle Seahawks season and why the Puget Sound is no longer favoring the “Suck for Luck” campaign.
• And finally, we summed up the remainder of the weekend’s WAC games, which included a thriller in San Jose.

VOLLEYBALL

• Allison Walker of the women’s volleyball team took home WAC player of the Week honors and Kevin Bingaman gave us an inside scoop on the all-WAC honoree.
• Kevin also witnessed the team extend their current five-game winning streak Saturday night when they downed Fresno State.

SOCCER

• The Vandals came out of a southern roadtrip with a tie in Las Cruces, N.M. and a win against La. Tech in Ruston. Check Sean’s article to see who had to step into goal last weekend.

TENNIS

• The women fared well at the ITA Regional in Las Vegas, see how far Idaho’s top seeds advanced in Charles Crowley’s overview.

OTHER

• The Outdoor Program will host a 72-mile bike trek this weekend, get all the information from The Argonaut’s Stephan Wiebe.

Good Morning Vandal Nation: Oct. 27, 2009

Morning breaks with the news that the Idaho/Boise State game is under consideration for ESPN’s College GameDay. The Idaho Statesman reports that Idaho needs to win at least one — and preferably both — of its games between now and Nov. 14. The good news? Both are at home. The bad news? Fresno State comes to town in two weeks with one of the nation’s most dangerous rushers.

With that, here’s today’s links:

Football

• The Argonaut has my game story from the Vandals’ loss at Nevada.

• The Argonaut’s Jennifer Schlake features Idaho kicker Trey Farquhar.

• ESPN’s Graham Watson reports that one of Louisiana Tech’s wide receivers — who also punted — has left the team. The Bulldogs have just three remaining healthy wideouts.

• Juan Lopez of the Nevada Sagebrush says forget the defense, just keep piling on the points.

• Ethan Conley of the Monroe News-Star looks at Louisiana Tech’s offensive struggles.

• The Lewiston Tribune’s Jesse Baumgartner posts up his WAC power rankings.

• Matt Markey of the Toledo Blade looks at Ohio State’s preparations to face the “FBS’ worst offense” — New Mexico State.

• Jason Kaneshiro of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin follows up on the Warriors’ quarterback injury woes.

Basketball

• We posted up the second half of our interview with Vandal center Marvin Jefferson. Check it out, and read the first part if you missed it.

Volleyball

• The Argonaut’s Lisa Short previews this week’s matchups, including Gonzaga today and New Mexico State on Thursday.

Soccer

• Ilya Pinchuk of The Argonaut reports from the Vandals’ double road loss, which makes getting into the WAC Tournament an iffy proposition.

Tennis

• The Argonaut’s Theo Lawson has the story from Idaho’s tournament play in Las Vegas.

Good Morning Vandal Nation: Oct. 13, 2009

Brrrrr… the weather outside says it’s getting to be basketball season on the Palouse. Hoops practice begins Friday.

Posting will be a bit sporadic today — we’ve got a couple big interviews to work on.

But as always, here’s your morning dose of Western Athletic Conference news and notes.

Football

• The Argonaut’s Jennifer Schlake has a game wrapup from the Vandals’ victory over San Jose State.

• I’ve got a feature story on Max Komar, a kid who started as a walk-on, endured the years of futility and is now the leading receiver on a winning football team. Click here for the Web-only unedited Q&A.

• ESPN.com’s Pat Forde calls Idaho’s resurgence the “Miracle in Moscow,” crediting coach Robb Akey for rebuilding a broken program.

• The Reno Gazette-Journal’s Dan Hinxman talks about the WAC’s two Idaho teams on the verge of bowl eligibility.

• Vandal defensive back linebacker Tre’Shawn Robinson was officially reprimanded by the WAC after being ejected from the SJSU game for throwing a punch. ESPN.com’s Graham Watson has the story.

• Honolulu Star-Bulletin columnist Dave Reardon thinks Idaho’s wins aren’t very impressive, and picks the Warriors to win.

• Mike Christensen of the Twin Falls Times-News says the Vandals have become one of the best clutch teams in college football.

• Football on the Fringe has a midseason report card on the New Mexico State Aggies.

• Inside Sparta’s Mike Morgan reports from SJSU coach Dick Tomey’s Monday press conference.

Men’s basketball

• We began our WAC preview countdown with #9 Hawaii and revealed our preseason All-WAC picks.

• The Reno Gazette-Journal’s Chris Murray picks Louisiana Tech to finish sixth in the WAC.

• The Refraction, Utah State’s “cold-blooded wrecking machine” newsletter, makes their WAC preseason predictions — putting Idaho third.

Good Afternoon Vandal Nation: Sept. 29, 2009

We’re back, with a big pile of links from the weekend that was. All sorts of good stuff relating to the Idaho Vandals’ upset of Northern Illinois. We apologize for the day-long hiatus, but there was homework to catch up on!

The Vandals are receiving more national attention than ever — as well they should, given their 3-1 record, the best FBS start in school history and the best overall since 1994.

But the gridiron Vandals aren’t the only squad on a hot start. Idaho’s women’s soccer squad is 7-4 heading into conference play this weekend, also its best-ever season start.

On Saturday, the Vandals will take to the Kibbie Dome for a nationally-televised night battle against the Colorado State Rams, which will close out the non-conference season. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. — students are advised to pick up their tickets soon, as nearly three-quarters of the allocation has already been distributed.

Football

• The Argonaut’s Jennifer Schlake has a game report that also mentions Nathan Enderle’s WAC Player of the Week honors.

• ESPN.com’s Pat Forde gives props to Idaho’s turnaround.

• The Coloradoan’s Kelly Lyell says the Rams aren’t going to overlook a “dangerous” Vandal squad.

• Jennifer Schlake chimes in again with a recruiting update on coach Robb Akey’s quest for size.

• Mike Brohard of the Loveland Reporter-Herald reports on the “unique challenges” posed by the Vandals and the Kibbie Dome.

• The Red and Black Attack wraps up the Huskies’ loss, saying “It will be tough for anyone to shut (Idaho) down and they will be very, very difficult to beat at home in their dome.”

• The San Diego Union-Tribune reports the Poinsettia Bowl will take WAC teams in 2011 and 2012.

• The Lewiston Tribune’s Jesse Baumgartner posts up his WAC power rankings.

Men’s basketball

• Chris Murray of the Reno Gazette-Journal and Jason Groves of the Las Cruces Sun-News both make preseason picks for the WAC’s best players. Murray’s top seniors and juniors; Groves’ top seniors and juniors. No surprise, Mac Hopson is among them.

Good Morning Vandal Nation: Sept. 21, 2009

After our usual recovery-Sunday hiatus, there’s a big pile of WAC news from the weekend that was, so let’s get right to it.

First, though, comes the news that Vandal linebacker JoJo Dickson has been named WAC Defensive Player of the Week.

Dickson brought the house down with his spectacular, 74-yard interception return for a touchdown in the first quarter of Saturday’s Idaho Vandals/San Diego State Aztecs game. That opening score gave the Vandals a lead they would never relinquish. Dickson also contributed six tackles on defense, including three solo takedowns.

Football

• In The Argonaut, I’ve got a game story on the Vandals’ 34-20 victory over the San Diego State Aztecs.

• The Moscow-Pullman Daily News’ Sandra Kelly has another gamer.

• The Spokesman-Review’s Josh Wright has yet another gamer — feeling the flow here?

• Over on his blog, the Lewiston Tribune’s Jesse Baumgartner has some insightful postgame commentary — and an admission that he was wrong to pick SDSU!

• The San Diego Union Tribune’s Kevin Gemmell says the Aztecs “gave away” the game with mistake-ridden play. Not giving much credit to the Vandals, is he?

• The Daily Aztec’s David Pope also gives Idaho no credit in his gamer, saying that “on paper,” the Aztecs “should beat Idaho.” Too bad they don’t play football on paper.

• The Daily Collegian of Fresno State reports on the Bulldogs’ home loss to the all-conquering Boise State Broncos.

• GoVandals.net has a great photo gallery from the game.

• The Las Cruces Sun-News’ Teddy Feinberg says the NMSU/UTEP rivalry game was “unwatchable.”

• BleedCrimson.net also has a recap of the ugliness in El Paso.

• The Reno Gazette-Journal’s Dan Hinxman calls the Wolf Pack’s loss at Colorado State “a debacle” and says QB Colin Kaepernick must take much of the blame.

Volleyball

• After a strong start, Vandal volleyball has now dropped six consecutive games. Idaho’s athletic site has the gory details on the losses to UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly.

Soccer

• Idaho’s athletics site has an official report on the Vandals’ loss at Gonzaga on Sunday.

Tennis

• Idaho’s athletics site says the Vandals had a successful outing in their first tournament of the season.

Cross country

• Idaho’s athletics site wraps up the Vandals’ reasonably successful trip to the Sundodger Invitational.

Good Morning, Vandal Nation: Sept. 18, 2009

Good morning, Vandal Nation — and this morning sure smells like gametime.

There’s a full-up slate of news links this morning, as everyone prepares for the Idaho Vandals home football opener tomorrow.

On tap today at Vandal Nation, we’ll Better Know a Foe by talking to a Mountain West blogger about the San Diego State Aztecs, shine the Vandal Spotlight on quarterback Nate Enderle and cover the Vandals women’s soccer team as they aim to defend home turf against Eastern Washington at 4 p.m.

As with every Vandal home game, we’ll have an play-by-play interactive liveblog from the Kibbie Dome beginning at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow. Or, you can follow along with regular score updates and highlights on the Vandal Nation Twitter. Either way, join us!

Also remember, it’s Vandal Spirit Friday — wear your Vandal gear!

Football

• The Argonaut’s Jennifer Schlake has a preview of tomorrow’s Vandals/Aztecs matchup.

• Also in The Argonaut, I call this a must-win game for Idaho.

• The Reno Gazette-Journal’s Dan Hinxman has yet another quality article about the links between Colorado State and Nevada, who also do battle tomorrow. The Vandals will take on CSU in two weeks, so Vandal fans should pay attention to this one.

• The Lewiston Tribune’s Jesse Baumgartner breaks the news that Idaho has picked up two blue-chip recruits out of Lewiston High — quarterback Justin Podrabsky and offensive tackle Spencer Beale.

• The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Brent Schrotenboer has an in-depth look at the unorthodox 3-3-5 defense espoused by Aztecs defensive coordinator Rocky Long. (h/t to Jesse’s Lewiston Trib blog)

• The Fresno State Collegian previews the Fresno State/Boise State WAC grudge match.

• Dave Southorn of the Idaho Press-Tribune says Fresno State and Boise State have a “civilized rivalry.” Not like the one between Boise State and Idaho, then…

• The Idaho Statesman’s Chadd Cripe writes that Boise State’s defensive unit is finally getting the respect it deserves.

• The Idaho Statesman’s Nick Jezierny has a nice feature writeup on Vandal wideout Daniel Hardy.

• Josh Wright of the Spokesman-Review has yet another Idaho/SDSU preview, this one focusing on improved linebacker play.

• The Spartan Daily has a video preview of the annual SJSU/Stanford game.

• The Logan Herald-Journal’s Wade Denniston previews the all-Aggies fight between Utah State and Texas A&M.

Volleyball

• The Argonaut’s Lisa Short has a look at the team’s final preseason tournament before the WAC battles begin.

Tennis

• GoVandals.com has the official word on the 2009-10 men’s tennis schedule.

Soccer

• The Argonaut’s Ilya Pinchuk previews today’s Idaho/Eastern Washington battle.

Cross country

• The Argonaut’s Ilya Pinchuk has a look at this weekend’s Sundodger Invitational in Seattle and a feature story on freshman runner Laurel Draper.

Men’s tennis invests in future by adding transfer Kevin Lee

The Vandal men’s tennis team announced Wednesday that they will be adding Kevin Lee, a transfer junior from Lewis-Clark State College.

“Kevin will be a strong addition, as he has three years of college experience under his belt,” coach Jeff Beaman said. “He has a strong counter-punching singles game and smart, consistent doubles game.”

Lee, who was part of the nationally-ranked LCSC tennis program, joins transfer players Adrian Simon, Lachlan Reed, Abid Akbar and Sam Lyons on a squad loaded with talent and potential.

Talented men’s squad looks to improve on last season

When Jeff Beaman, head coach of the UI men’s tennis team, took the position four years ago, he made it a goal of his to have a nationally ranked team at UI in three years. Last year, his third as coach, the Vandals came close, but failed to achieve that goal.

“We had opportunities and matches that could have gone either way or matches we could have won,” Beaman said. “We were regionally ranked and had a winning record, but this is the year I want to take that step.”

Thanks to an aggressive recruiting campaign and the return of several key players, Beaman’s dream of a nationally ranked tennis squad me soon be realized. Joining veteran UI players Atrem Kuzentov, who finished last year ranked 20^th in singles, and Stanisla Glukhov, who finished last year 12^th in double play along with Kuzentov, is a batch of young talent.