After a 4-1 victory over future conference foe Sacramento State, the Vandal men’s tennis team defeated a current conference foe in Seattle U on Friday.
The Vandals and Redhawks split the six singles matches 3-3 with No. 1 singles player Artemiy Nikitin and No. 4 singles Cesar Torres gutting out tough three-set victories over Seattle’s Kevin Lynch and Ian Clare respectively.
Odon Barta also came out victorious at No. 5 singles by a final score of 6-4, 6-1 over Zach Kosanke.
The victory was Idaho’s second over the Redhawks (9-13) this season and improved the Vandals to 7-9 on the season.
“It’s a good win, it was a tough match so it’s something that hopefully we learn from,” Idaho coach Jeff Beaman said. “There were ups and downs to it at different positions. You’ve got to play under pressure.”
The Vandals haven’t had much experience in pressure-packed situations during this up and down season. This was only the second match of the year decided by two points or fewer, the first being a heartbreaking 3-4 loss on February 28 to Utah State.
Despite the ups and downs of the season, the doubles play for the Vandals has been a bright spot for the squad. This trend continued against Seattle despite Idaho being without one half of the No. 1 singles pairing as Cristobal Ramos Salazar sat out the match with an arm injury that has been lingering for a few weeks, Beaman said.
“He tried to play through it but at this point we decided we need him healthy for the end of the year and the conference tournament,” he said.
Ramos Salazar and his doubles partner Jose Bendeck had been virtually unstoppable this spring dropping only one match all year in doubles play.
Ramos Salazar isn’t the only Vandal at less than optimal health either. There are a few players that are nursing flu like symptoms and other bumps and bruises, said Beaman, who stressed the importance of depth, which is something the Vandals pride themselves on.
However, with how well Jose Bendeck played with Ramos-Salazar’s replacement — Andrew Zedde, who earlier this spring missed time with an injury of his own — you wouldn’t have been able to tell that there was an injury. Bendeck and Zedde handled Seattle U’s Kevin Lynch and Jason Bediones 8-6. Torres and Barta also came out victorious at No. 3 doubles over Riley Newman and Connor Leahy of Seattle U 8-4 to claim the doubles point for the third straight match.
“Without our depth this would have been a loss. To be able to put people out there, whether they win or lose, but they compete is all you can ask for,” Beaman said.
Ramos Salazar is not expected to play before the Vandals take the court for the WAC Tournament in Las Cruses, N.M., in late April but with some of the other injuries that have plagued the team that could always change, Beaman said.
The Vandals will travel to Portland, Ore., for matches against familiar foes Hawaii (3-9) and Portland (8-4) on Sunday and Monday respectively.
Joshua Gamez can be reached at [email protected]