The Idaho men’s tennis team continued its winning ways with three victories in a span of four days to wrap up a six-game stretch of conference play.
Idaho went 5-1 during the six-game stretch to improve the team’s record to 10-2 overall.
The team began the week against Southern Utah March 10 in Lewiston. The Vandals ended the day by sweeping the Thunderbirds 7-0.
In doubles play, the duo of senior Odon Barta and sophomore Felipe Fonseca defeated Southern Utah’s Jacob Nelson and Ben Yeacker 6-0 on the No. 2 court to start the match.
Two matches ended in a two-set sweep during singles play, as both Barta and Fonseca made quick work of Dario Rios and Nelson respectively, winning the matches 6-0, 6-0.
Fonseca’s win over Nelson gave Idaho the match win on the No. 2 court.
The Vandals would return into action March 10, but the team faced stiffer competition in Bozeman.
However, the result remained the same as Idaho defeated Montana State 4-3.
Barta and Fonseca were victorious once again in the pair’s doubles matchup, defeating Kellen Bates and Mateus Ceolin 6-3.
The Bobcats bounced back by winning the next two doubles matches to earn the corresponding point.
Both teams traded wins in singles play, but the competition was not decided until singles match sophomore Mark Kovacs defeated freshman Charles Edgecombe to give Idaho its second win of the weekend.
The first set came down to the wire, as Kovacs earned the advantage by winning 7-6 (2). Kovacs would later defeat Edgecombe 7-5 in the second set to earn the team’s victory.
Montana State would end the day with a win in the final singles match, as Harry James defeated senior Jackson Varney 6-1, 7-6 (1) on the No. 3 court.
Idaho travelled the following day to Missoula to face the Montana. It was only the Grizzlies sixth game of the season to Idaho’s 12th.
Like the two previous matches, Idaho won its fifth straight game by defeating Montana 4-3.
Barta and Fonseca were again victorious in doubles, ending the weekend 3-0 after defeating Semion Branz and Peter Mimnagh-Fleming 6-3 on the No. 2 court.
Kovacs and freshman Lucas Coutinho followed suit by defeating Victor Casadevall and Tomasz Soltyka respectively 6-3 to earn the doubles point for Idaho.
Fonseca and Varney both won their matches in singles, giving Idaho a 3-0 advantage. But Montana’s Mimnagh-Fleming defeated Barta 6-4, 7-5 on the No. 1 court that sparked a 3-point momentum swing for the Grizzlies.
Casadevall defeated Coutinho 6-2, 6-2 on the No. 6 court to tie the match at three apiece, leaving the final point down to Kovacs and Soltyka on the No. 5 court.
Kovacs won the first set 6-2 before Soltyka claimed the second set 7-5 to tie the competition. But Kovacs took control of the third set and won 6-3, clinching Idaho the win.
Montana coach Kris Nord said he was happy with Soltyka’s effort but disappointed in the team’s performance in doubles play.
“We had a really good fight from Tomasz in that last match, but I told the guys it shouldn’t have come down to that match,” Nord said. “We allowed that to happen by coming out flat in doubles, it’s probably our weakest doubles performance that I’ve seen.”
Idaho will play its first non-conference match since Feb. 15 against Sonoma State at 11 a.m. March 16 in Rohnert Park, California. The Vandals will resume conference play at 2 p.m. March 18 against Sacramento State.
Luis Torres can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @TheLTFiles