The Idaho men’s tennis team defeated Montana State University Saturday afternoon 6-1.
The victory provided Idaho with a spot in the Big Sky Tournament. The win was Idaho’s fifth consecutive in Big Sky Conference play.
Doubles opened with controlling performances from all three Idaho pairs.
Junior Mark Kovacs opened singles with a two-set victory of 6-4, 6-4, at the No. 1 position. Kovacs’ victory snapped a skid of two consecutive losses in singles play.
Leading the matchup by two, Idaho received another victorious outing from junior Felipe Fonseca. Fonseca dropped the opening set 4-6, but recovered and won the final two 7-5, 10-5.
The Vandals’ victories continued to roll in, but this time, the younger Idaho players made the impact.
Freshman Carlos Longhi Neto, Esteban Santibanez and Guilherme Scarpelli each won their matchups in singles play.
Longhi Neto played in the No. 3 spot and took down his adversary 6-2, 6-2.
Santibanez defeated his opponent 6-3, 6-4 to claim his fifth straight win in singles competition.
Scarpelli opened his matchup with an impressive 6-1 set victory over his opponent. He followed it up with a 6-2 win in the final set.
Idaho wraps up the 2017 regular season at Portland State April 22, and the Big Sky Tournament will shortly follow. The conference tournament will begin April 27.
Zack Ozuna can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @OzunaZack21