Bengals Play at Northern Colorado on Saturday

Match Notes

BENGALS IN ACTION THIS WEEK
Idaho State plays at Northern Colorado on Saturday, April 16 at the Butler-Hancock Courts. The women play at 10 a.m. while the men play their last match of the season at 1 p.m. The Bengal men lead the series against the Bears 4-2 and come off a 6-1 win over Northern Colorado last season.  Both men's teams have yet to win a Big Sky match this season. The Northern Colorado women lead the series 4-0 but ISU pushed the Bears to a 4-3 contest in their last meeting.

SENIORS CAPTURE VICTORIES IN LAST HOME GAME
Senior Danel Barrenechea and redshirt junior Risa Fujiwara, who is graduating this spring, both captured doubles victories in their last home games of their careers. Barrenechea teamed up with Dan Buckingham, a junior, to overcome Weber State's Landon Barlow and Dave Hintze 8-6 at the No. 2 spot ending a six-match losing streak for the senior. Fujiwara and teammate Rilee Moorhead, a junior, easily defeated Michelle Warwick and Annika Karlsen of Weber State 8-1 at the No. 2 spot. Fujiwara and Moorhead helped the Bengals capture their fourth doubles point of the season.

FINAL MATCH FOR SENIOR BARRENECHEA
Danel Barrenechea is playing his last match of his collegiate career against Northern Colorado on Saturday. Over his career he has posted a 16-43 singles record working his way up the line-up from a spot at No. 3 his freshman year to the No. 2 position his sophomore and junior seasons to the No. 1 spot his senior year. His 16 career singles wins is the fifth best mark since 2005. He has been most successful at the No. 2 and 3 singles spots putting together 15 of his 16 victories. He posts a 12-48 career doubles record which is the fourth best mark since 2005. He has been most successful in doubles at the No. 1 spot capturing eight victories.

BENGALS OUT OF RUNNING FOR BIG SKY TOURNAMENT
Both the Bengal men and women's teams are out of the running for the Big Sky tournament. Both teams have yet to capture a victory in Big Sky play. Other Big Sky teams who did not qualify for the tournament include Northern Colorado on the men's side and Eastern Washington on the women's side. The last time the Idaho State men qualified for the Big Sky tournament was in 2006 when ISU hosted the tournament, advancing to the semifinals. The last time the Idaho State women qualified for the Big Sky tournament was in 2004 where the Bengals also advanced to the semifinals.

MEN AND WOMEN SHOW IMPROVEMENT
The Idaho State men's and women's teams have each captured three victories this season. The last time the Bengal men had three or more victories was in 2006 when ISU finished the season with an 11-12 record. The last time the Bengal women had three or more victories was in 2004 when ISU finished with a 9-12 record.

GROSS CLIMBS THE RECORD BOOK
Sophomore Nate Gross is leading the Bengals in singles victories with a 12-6 record. He is the first player in double-figure wins since 2008 when Marc Pijoan captured 11. Gross ties for the second most singles victories in a season since 2005. Masimba Ruwo holds the record with 14 achieved in 2006. For career singles victories since 2005, Gross ties the third best mark since 2005 at 18 with Pablo Garces. Pijoan leads the record with 35 career singles victories since 2005.

LOSSES FOR GROSS FEW AND FAR BETWEEN
Nate Gross is leading the Bengals in singles with a 12-6 record. He is the only Bengal on the team in double-figures wins. Gross has won five of his last six matches and is on a two-match win streak having defeated Montana's Mikolaj Caruk in three sets at the No. 4 spot and Weber State's Ciao Poitena in straight sets at the No. 3 spot. In home matches, Gross owns a 4-1 record falling only to Sacramento State's Aliaksander Marlko at the No. 4 spot, 6-7 (4-7), 6-7 (1-7), in ISU's third match of the season. In away matches, Gross is 4-3 for the season but owns a 4-1 record on the road at the No. 4 spot falling only to Utah's Devin Lane 6-4, 6-4. His longest win streak of the season is three matches twice. His first streak was victories at Weber State, at UNLV and against UC Riverside while his second streak was two matches against Seattle and at Portland State.

WOMEN DROP HEARTBREAKER AGAINST WEBER STATE
The Bengal women held a 2-0 lead over Weber State before falling 4-3 on Wednesday afternoon. ISU captured their fourth doubles point of the season with victories at the No. 1 and 2 spots then Laura Porras earned ISU's first singles victory. ISU then dropped its singles contests at the No. 4, 1 and 2 spots to give Weber State a 3-2 lead. Weber State took the match by winning at No. 5. Freshman Zamira Vasquez ended the day on a positive note capturing a straight set victory at the No. 6 spot.

LAURA “THE WALL” PORRAS
Junior Laura Porras earned the nickname “the wall” when she played at Tennessee Tech for her consistent play. She's beginning to pick up the same name at Idaho State. Her consistent play has earned her the best singles and doubles record on the team. Porras owns an 8-5 singles record at the No. 3 spot and a 6-6 doubles record with partner Katharina Marsela. She has won five of her last eight matches. Her last singles victory was against Weber State's Annika Karlsen 6-0, 6-2.

WOMEN CAPTURE FOUR DOUBLES POINTS
The women have collected a total of four doubles points this season sweeping the College of Idaho and Western New Mexico and winning the top two contests against South Dakota and Weber State. In 2004, the women's team earned six doubles points, including two sweeps.

MEN EARN TWO DOUBLES POINTS
The men's team has captured two doubles points this season sweeping the College of Idaho and earning its second doubles point of the season against Seattle winning two contests at 1 and 3. In 2006, the men were on top of their doubles matches winning eight doubles points including three sweeps and held a four-match doubles point streak. This season the ISU men's team has had 13 different combinations of doubles teams.