SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Idaho State men's tennis team fell 6-1 to Sacramento State Sunday afternoon. The Bengals won the doubles point but were topped in a string of tight singles matches.
"It was a tough loss today and the score line doesn't truly reflect how competitive the match was," said Head Coach
Mark Rodel. "The guys came out and played exceptional doubles winning at No. 2 and No. 1 to take the doubles point. Unfortunately, playing outdoors and at low altitude proved just too much of a difficult combination for us to overcome, although I'm proud of the way the guys competed."
David Felix and
Gary Rendek opened play with a dominant 6-1 win at No. 2 doubles. It was the 10th win for the duo which is now 10-2 this season.
Peter Trhac and
Fynn Lohse followed with a 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles to clinch the point for the Bengals.
The Hornets took every match in singles play, but eight of the 14 sets were decided by two games or less. Felix lost by nearly as small of a margin as one can at No. 1 singles. After taking the first set 3-6, he narrowly lost a tiebreaker 7-6 (5). He and SAC's Mikus Losbergs had to play another tiebreaker to determine the winner in the third set. Losbergs edged Felix 7-6 (4) to take the win.
His doubles partner, Rendek, also won the first set before suffering a close loss in the super tiebreak. ISU's No. 5 dropped the match 5-7, 6-2, 10-7. Court No. 6 featured another close battle between
Francis Filipovich and SAC's Donald Hall. Filipovich hung tight before dropping the match 6-4, 7-5.
Idaho State has just one match remaining before the Big Sky Conference Championship April 26-29. The Bengals return home to take on Portland State in Reed Gym next Friday at 2 p.m. The team will recognize Felix, Filipovich and Trhac before Senior Day begins.
Sacramento State 6, Idaho State 1
Singles competition
1. LOSBERGS, Mikus (SAC) def. FELIX, David (ISU) 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4)
2. LEGASPI, Hermont (SAC) def. TRHAC, Peter (ISU) 6-2, 6-4
3. MILLER, Dom (SAC) def. RIDEMAR, Lukas (ISU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
4. GJERDAKER, Johannes (SAC) def. LOHSE, Fynn (ISU) 6-4, 6-3
5. CHABUT, Louis (SAC) def. RENDEK, Gary (ISU) 5-7, 6-2, 10-7
6. HALL, Donald (SAC) def. FILIPOVICH, Francis (ISU) 6-4, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. LOHSE, Fynn/TRHAC, Peter (ISU) def. LOSBERGS, Mikus/CHABUT, Louis (SAC) 6-4
2. FELIX, David/RENDEK, Gary (ISU) def. HALL, Donald/GJERDAKER, Johannes (SAC) 6-1
3. MILLER, Dom/LEGASPI, Hermont (SAC) vs. RIDEMAR, Lukas/FILIPOVICH, Francis (ISU) 3-4, unfinished
Match Notes:
Idaho State 8-10, 5-4
Sacramento State 8-11, 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (4,2,3,5,1,6)
