Box Score
POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State men defeated Montana State Friday evening 4-3 at the Reed Gym Indoor Courts. It is just the second time that ISU has defeated Montana State in program history and breaks an 11-match losing streak to the Bobcats. ISU last defeated MSU on April 26, 2003 at the Big Sky Conference Tournament.
Junior
Nate Gross improved to 8-7 on the season at the No. 2 singles with a 6-2, 6-4 win over MSU's Markus Schleuter. Gross and teammate senior
Dan Buckingham also improved to 9-6 on the season at the No. 2 doubles with a 9-8 win over Niklas Brandes and Schleuter.
Freshman
Krzysztof Stempien improved to 9-6 in singles action with a win at the No. 3 singles. Stempien defeated Alberto Fuentes 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
After losing the doubles point, the match would come down to two freshmen at the No. 5 and No. 6 positions.
Freshman
Andres Coello defeated Martin-Marillas 6-1, 6-2 to help bring ISU closer to the winning score.
Austin Miller came back after losing his first set to Lander Jewett 6-1 to win the match with a 6-4 score in the second set and 6-2 win in the third.
“I think we are back to a point where we are competitive in the conference again,” ISU Head Coach
Bobby Goeltz said. “The fascinating part is that we got our wins from three freshmen and a junior and that isn't normal. There has been a change in the attitude in this team. There is now a nucleus of new players who are not familiar with the losing seasons and our returners have really changed their attitudes. The team no longer expects to lose. There is no pressure, just opportunity and that makes a big difference.”
The Bobcats fall to 7-8 overall and 3-1 in Big Sky Conference action while the Bengals improve to 7-8 and 4-1 in league play.
The Bengals compete again Saturday, March 31 in the final home match of the season against Montana. The match is slated to begin at 11 a.m. ISU dropped a very close 4-3 match to the Griz earlier this season and will be looking to get the win this time around.
We Are Your Bengals
