Box Score
POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State men's tennis team opened the 2012 season on a high note as the Bengals downed the Aggies for the first time since 2006. It is also the first time that ISU has opened the season with a win since the 2005-06 season as ISU defeated USU 6-1 today in Reed Gym.
“We were a lot more optimistic this year than most of the previous years,” ISU Head Coach
Bobby Goeltz said. “You know, Rome wasn't built in a day and we have been trying to piece the program back together without taking shortcuts and I think we have some really good student-athletes this year.”
ISU set the pace for the match by defeating Utah State in the doubles portion of the competition. Senior
Dan Buckingham and junior
Nate Gross defeated Utah State's Peterson and Fritz and the No. 2 spot 9-7 and freshmen
Austin Miller and Krzyzstof Stempien downed USU's Ballam and Wearmouth 8-5.
“A lot of credit for today has to go to Nate and Dan. They moved up in doubles and singles today and really stepped up, especially in doubles play,” Goeltz said. “Moving up in the line-up means more experience but it is also tougher and I think they gained a lot of confidence from winning that doubles match against Seattle last season. Those two really set the pace for the freshmen today.”
Idaho State then came close to sweeping the singles competitions, winning every position except for the No. 1 spot.
Nate Gross won the No. 2 spot, defeating Peterson 7-6, 6-1 while Buckingham defeated Fritz at the No. 3 position 6-4, 7-5. Stempien, Miller and freshman
Andres Coello won the No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 spots respectively.
“We have a relatively young team and in the process of putting the program back on track this season,” Goeltz said. “That first college match is always really tricky and there is always a lot of nerves. I was more than pleasantly surprised with today's results and I'm very happy with where we are at this early in the season.”
Idaho State returns to the court Wednesday, Jan. 25 against Weber State. The match will take place at Reed Gym and begin at 3 p.m.
We Are Your Bengals
