Spring break drew to a close with the Idaho men’s tennis team facing its sixth Big Sky opponent of the season and maintaining a perfect conference record.
The Vandals’ 5-2 victory over Sacramento State Saturday began with dominating doubles play. Junior Lucas Coutinho and sophomore Esteban Santibanez cruised to a 6-3 victory in the first match of the day. Meanwhile, senior Mark Kovacs and junior Carlos Longhi Neto, who together rank 53rd in the nation as a doubles team, took down Kasparas Zemaitelis and Mikus Losbergs 6-4, clinching the first points for the Vandals.
Faced with an early deficit, the Hornets continued to drop their next two matches. Kovacs defeated Dom Miller in a swift 6-2, 6-1 bout, and Sanitbanez eventually overcame Louis Chabut, despite a late rally in the second set by the Sacramento State athlete.
Sophomore Guilherme Scarpelli hung tough against Zemaitelis, winning in two extended sets 7-5.
With a 4-0 lead and the victory secured, the Vandals added on to their perfect conference record, and continued play in the final three matches.
Hermont Legaspo flew past senior Felipe Fonesca 6-1 in the opening set, and closed the deal 7-5 in the second, earning Sacramento State its first point of the day. Losbergs then battled with Longhi Neto on the No. 1 court. Longhi Neto prevailed in the first set via tie-breaker, but failed to secure the win in the second. A drawn out 10-4 third set eventually went to Losbergs, bringing the overall score between the Hornets and the Vandals to 4-2.
Coutinho, from the No. 6 court, closed out the day with a two-set win over Bernardo Moraes, with the final set being decided by a tie-breaker.
The Vandals then took to the road for Sunday’s match against the Nevada Wolfpack in Reno.
The Wolfpack had the advantage over the Vandals from the get-go, as all three doubles matches were awarded to Nevada by default.
Nevada then added to its early lead, as Julien Evrard defeated Longhi Neto 6-3, 6-2 in the first match of the day. Kovaks proved to be a tougher opponent for Kostya Nesternko, bringing the first set to a 7-5 tiebreaker that he eventually lost. Gassed from a drawn-out set, Kovacs dropped the second set in a 6-1 blowout.
Scarpelli breathed life into the Vandals, earning a tough win over Robert Margitfalvi, earning the first points for Idaho in a thrilling 6-4 third set. Fonesca quickly followed suit, overcoming Peter O’Donovan’s early lead to win 7-5 in the third set as well.
With a 3-2 lead, however, Nevada stomped out Idaho’s hopes for a comeback, as Augustin Delahodde took down Santibanez in the final match of the day. Jonathan Aremon and Coutinho’s match was left unfinished following Nevada’s clinched victory.
The Vandals (6-6, 6-0 BSC) will take a short hiatus to finish March, but will return to action April 7 in Lewiston in a double-header against Lewis and Clark State College and Whitman. A win over either team would be the first non-conference victory for the Vandals this season.
Brandon Hill can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @brandonmtnhill