The Idaho men’s tennis team participated in the Dar Walters Fall Classic in Boise.
Air Force, Brigham Young, Idaho State, Lewis-Clark State, Montana, Montana State, Nevada, Portland State, Southern Utah, Utah, Utah State, Weber State and Whitman were all in attendance for the four-day event.
Junior Felipe Fonesca and freshman Guilherme Scarpelli took down Portland State 6-1 Thursday. The duo fell to Brigham Young in the round of 32.
Sophomore Lucas Coutinho and freshman Esteban Santibanez overcame Montana State in a 6-4 showdown and advanced to the next round. The two won 6-4 against. Coutinho and Santibanez were brought down in the round of 16 by Utah, losing the match 7-5.
Junior Mark Kovacs and freshman Carlos Longhi Neto received a bye in their first round and won against Portland State in the next. The two defeated Southern Utah 6-2.
In the quarter finals, the pair won 6-4 and lost the semi-finals match to Utah State.
The singles matches were divided into Singles A and Singles B.
In Singles A, Kovacs defeated Montana’s Ludvig Halgreen in two quick sets 6-3 and 6-2. Kovacs could not keep up with Utah State’s Kai Wenhelt and lost in the second round 6-2, 6-4.
Santibanez lasted two rounds, beating Weber State’s Stefan Cooper and Montana State’s Rok Sitar. In his third match, Santibanez fell to Julien Evrard 6-0, 6-3.
Fonesca survived one round, besting Weber State’s Kris Van Wyk. Fonesca won the first set 6-2 but Wyk rallied back to win the second set 6-3. Fonesca battled back to win the third set. He lost to Utah’s Santiago Sierra in the next round.
In Singles B competition, Idaho had three players compete.
Freshman Kooper Crow lost his first match to Gary Ho of Whitman 6-1, 6-0.
Scarpelli was unable to finish his singles debut for the Vandals. His opponent, Augustin Delahodde of Nevada, was injured midway through the match. Scarpelli was granted the win, then lost to Portland State’s Tommy Edwards, 6-3, 6-4.
Longhi Neto pulled a close win over Southern Utah and won three matches.
He played in the finals match against No. 2 Victor Casadevall of Montana Sunday. He overcame Casadevall in two sets of 6-3 and 6-2, giving Idaho its only finals win in the week.
The Vandals compete in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Mountain Regionals starting Oct. 19 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Brandon Hill can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @brandonmtnhill