POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State men's tennis team put on a show for the home crowd in a 5-2 win over Weber State Thursday afternoon. The Bengals are now 6-8 this season with a 3-2 Big Sky record and are undefeated at home. The Wildcats fell to 4-12 with a 2-4 conference record.
"Overall we had a solid performance today by the men's team," said Head Coach
Mark Rodel. "We executed extremely well and competed from start to finish."
Idaho State lost a competitive match at No. 1 doubles 6-4 to open play. However,
David Felix and
Gary Rendek sparked a comeback effort for the doubles point by taking a 7-5 win in a back-and-forth match at No. 2.
Francis Filipovich and
Lukas Ridemar then came from behind to pull even and force a tiebreak at No. 3 doubles. The Bengal duo fell behind 3-1 in the tiebreak, but rallied to win the set 7-6 (6) and give ISU the advantage heading into singles.
Peter Trhac quickly gained a 3-0 advantage at No. 2 singles before his opponent retired due to injury. Ridemar had the most dominant win of the match with a 6-4, 6-3 victory at No. 4.
Felix followed with one of the tightest matches of the day despite winning in straight sets. The ISU senior battled his way to consecutive 7-5 wins on the premiere court to clinch the match for Idaho State.
Weber State responded with two wins in close three-set matches at No. 3 and No. 5. Filipovich put the exclamation mark on the match with a 6-4, 6-7 (5), 10-7 win to close play at No. 6.
Idaho State is back in action at Reed Gym this Sunday against Idaho. The first serve will fly at 10 a.m.
Idaho State 5, Weber State 2
Singles competition
1. FELIX, David (ISU) def. VAN WYK, Kris (WSU) 7-5, 7-5
2. TRHAC, Peter (ISU) def. VAN SCHOOR, Michiel (WSU) 3-0, retired
3. LI, Bo-han (WSU) def. LOHSE, Fynn (ISU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
4. RIDEMAR, Lukas (ISU) def. WERNER, Nick (WSU) 6-4, 6-3
5. WALKUSZ, Cezary (WSU) def. RENDEK, Gary (ISU) 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 10-2
6. FILIPOVICH, Francis (ISU) def. YE, Junhao (WSU) 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 10-7
Doubles competition
1. LI, Bo-han/YE, Junhao (WSU) def. TRHAC, Peter/LOHSE, Fynn (ISU) 6-4
2. FELIX, David/RENDEK, Gary (ISU) def. VAN WYK, Kris/WERNER, Nick (WSU) 7-5
3. FILIPOVICH, Francis/RIDEMAR, Lukas (ISU) def. VAN SCHOOR, Michiel/WALKUSZ, Cezary (WSU) 7-6 (8-6)
Match Notes:
Weber State 4-12 (2-4 BSC)
Idaho State 6-8 (3-2 BSC)
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,4,1,3,5,6)
