The number three summed up last weekend for the Idaho men’s tennis team.
No. 61 Idaho improved to 3-0 in Western Athletic Conference competition after defeating New Mexico State University 5-2 Friday in Pullman. However, the Vandals suffered their third loss of the season two days later when they fell to Southern Methodist University in Dallas Sunday.
In its first “home” match of the season, Idaho played like it has on the road for most of the year against the Aggies. The Vandals took the doubles point after sophomore Dmitry Perevoshchikov paired up with sophomore Cesar Torres to roll to an 8-2 victory at the No. 3 position, while seniors Abid Akbar and Marius Cirstea won 8-6 at No. 1.
The Vandals carried that momentum into the singles matches, where they won four out of the six matches. Perevoshchikov rebounded from his two losses the previous weekend to win easily at No.1. Cirstea won in three sets at No. 3, junior Jose Bendeck won at No. 4 and sophomore Cristobal Ramos Salazar won at No. 6. Akbar dropped the No. 2 match and Torres lost in three sets at No. 5.
New Mexico State, which came into Friday’s match after losing the day before, falls to 10-7 on the season and 1-1 in WAC play. Coach Jeff Beaman said he liked the all-around effort from the players.
“It’s a good final score and it’s a big win against the number two team in the conference,” Idaho coach Jeff Beaman said. “It could have really gone either way. Guys stepped up when they needed to and the ones who were still out there when we clinched kept competing.”
Idaho then traveled south to face the SMU Mustangs, who were coming off wins against Marquette and Oklahoma State. SMU rolled, winning the doubles point and taking four out of five singles matches against the Vandals. Idaho is the second ranked team to lose to SMU this season.
The normally reliable Idaho doubles teams struggled to keep up with the 7-7 Mustangs. Akbar and Cirstea lost to the No. 75-ranked combo of Arturs Kazijevs and Mischa Nowicki 8-5 in the No. 1 doubles match, while Ramos and Bendeck fell 8-3 to Gaston Cuadranti and Alex Sanders at No.2. The No. 3 match, with Perevoshchikov and Torres playing against Nate Lammons and Pablo Perez-Esnaola, did not finish.
Perevoshchikov lost his third singles match of the season to No. 124 Arturs Kazijevs at No. 1, Cirstea lost at No. 3, Ramos Salazar lost at No. 6 and the No. 5 match between Torres and Nowicki did not finish. Akbar and Bendeck were the only victors for the Vandals. Akbar won at No. 2 and Bendeck at No. 4.
The SMU match marked the first of a grueling three-day road trip for the Vandals, who played Texas-Arlington on Monday and Oklahoma State on Tuesday. They will return to Moscow, Friday, April 5 when they play Sacramento State.
Anthony Kuipers can be reached at [email protected]