Idaho took to the road over the weekend to compete in a road trip doubleheader in Utah against BYU and Utah State.
The Vandals struggled against both teams, falling in both matches.
Idaho began the road trip against No. 59 ranked BYU on Friday. The Cougars came into the match with a 14-4 record and only one home loss.
The Vandals got off to a good start when freshman Lucas Coutinho and sophomore Mark Kovacs defeated their opponents 6-3 in doubles play. The win would be the only for the Vandals that afternoon.
BYU quickly swept the doubles point with consecutive victories after Idaho’s fast start. The Cougars then began to chip away the Vandals’ hope for a comeback.
Idaho’s Kovacs, senior Jackson Varney and sophomore Felipe Fonesca all suffered hard losses in singles play, despite competitive efforts.
On the No. 1 court, Idaho senior Odon Barta went toe-to-toe with BYU’s Shane Monroe and forced a tiebreaking third set. Monroe eventually came away with the singles point, winning the tiebreaker 10-4.
The Cougars held onto the commanding lead to earn a 5-0 shutout over Idaho.
“We played well as a team today,” said Idaho head coach Abid Akbar. “BYU is a strong team and they proved it today.”
The Vandals entered Saturday’s matchup against Mountain West opponent Utah State. The Aggies currently lead the conference with a 16-6 record.
After the Aggies claimed the first doubles point, Kovacs and Coutinho provided momentum for Idaho. The duo defeated Andrew Nakajima and Jaime Barajas in a tiebreaker 7-4. However, Utah State was able to win the final doubles match to take an early lead.
The Aggies continued to dictate the tempo of the competition by sweeping the first two singles points. Barta gave Idaho its first win of the day against Jaime Barajas. After dropping the first set, Barta came back to win the third 6-4.
Utah State went on to earn victories in the next two singles matches against Coutinho and Kovacs. Coutinho was able to force a third set against Andrew Nakajima, but the freshman could not capitalize.
By the time Idaho freshman Artem Vasheshnikov dispatched Utah State’s Luis Lopez, the match had already gone to the Aggies.
The back-to-back losses drop Idaho to third place in the Big Sky Conference standings. The team’s two conference losses from earlier in the season prevent the Vandals from securing a position at the top of the standings.
The Vandals will return to Moscow to take on conference opponent Portland State at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Brandon Hill can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @brandonmtnhill Â