Idaho’s men’s tennis team held on to its top spot in the Big Sky conference after flying past Whitman College and Lewis and Clark State College Saturday.
The Vandals (8-6, 6-0 BSC) blanked Lewis and Clark 7-0 for the first match of the day, and barely missed a step hours later, taking down Whitman 5-2.
In doubles play, the Vandals overcame adversity to win the first point of the day. Sophomore Guilherme Scarpelli and senior Felipe Fonesca struggled on the No. 3 court, falling in the first contest 6-2 to William Bruchard and Vannasak Cheang.
Sophomore Esteban Santibanez and junior Lucas Coutinho picked their teammates back up, evening the score in a 7-5 victory on the No. 2 court. Senior Mark Kovacs and junior Carlos Longhi Neto put the nail in the coffin with a 7-6 win on court No. 1 via tiebreaker.
Nothing could stop Idaho in singles play, as the Vandals went on to win six straight matches.
Fonesca finished first, blowing out Cheang in a revenge match 6-0, 6-2. Longhi Neto followed suit, with a 6-3, 6-4 win from the No. 1 court against Bruchard.
Kovacks sealed the win for Idaho, clinching the fourth point with a 6-3, 6-2 victory on court No. 2 against Luca Menezes.
In bonus play, Scarpelli won out on court No. 3 6-4, 6-3, and Santibanez prevailed 6-2, 6-2 against Roberto Salazar on court No. 5.
Coutinho rounded out the day by beating Marcus Gavelin on court No. 6.
A mere four hours after the start of Idaho’s match against Lewis and Clark, the Vandals began match play against Whitman.
Idaho again earned the valuable first point in doubles. Coutinho and Santibanez got out to a commanding lead, winning 6-2 from the second court. Guilherme and Fonesca clinched the doubles point after a close scrape with Whitman’s Ben Kirsh and Daniel Foster in a 7-5 win.
In singles, Scarpelli put forth an impressive effort, defeating Robert Carter 6-1, 6-2. Fonesca notched Idaho’s third win of the day after putting up an identical on court No. 4.
Idaho had to wait for the winning point, as Longhi Neto missed a step on court No. 1 against Zach Hewlin. The Vandals top player looked on his game during the first set, winning 6-3, but Hewlin fought for a chance to stay alive in the second, clawing to a 7-5 win.
Longhi Neto could not keep pace in the third tie-breaking set, falling 6-2 and allowing Whitman its first point of the afternoon.
Santibanez picked up the slack on court No. 5, defeating Chase Friedman 6-3, 6-2 and clinching the win for the Silver and Gold.
Kovacs continued play on the second court, earning a hard-fought win after dropping the first set. Coutinho finished last, dropping his match to Tom Chang after two consecutive losses in the final sets.
The Vandals will take off from Moscow and travel to Montana for two back-to-back matches against Montana State and Montana. The Grizzlies pose the biggest threat to the Vandals, with a 4-2 conference record.
Brandon Hill can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @brandonmtnhill