Bengals Win 5-2 Over Montana State

POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State University men's tennis team defeated Montana State University 5-2 on Saturday afternoon in Reed Gym. 
 
"I am really proud of the way the team competed today," said Head Coach Alexander Free. "This was the signature win that we needed as a team. We played these guys in February and they got the best of us, but we always preached wanting to be the best team in April and at the end of the season." 
 
The Bengals started things off strong in doubles play. Patrik Trhac and Aleksander Petrovic won their match at the No. 1 spot, 6-1, over Nejc Sitar and Jakob Mosvold. Jaime Castillo-Lopez and Gary Rendek then won their match at the No. 3 spot 6-4 over Brad Buckland and Joaquin Espinoza to claim the doubles point. 
 
Trhac was the first to earn a singles win. At the No. 1 spot, Trhac defeated Espinoza 6-4, 6-3. Petrovic then split sets in his singles match but played a dominating third set without dropping a single game. His final match score was 6-2, 6-7, 6-0 over Sitar at the No. 2 spot. 
 
At No. 3 Hiroki Fujita went to a tight third-set battle against Daan Van Dijk. After losing the first set, Fujita came back to win the second set and force a third set that extended to a tiebreaker, but he ended up falling short 3-6, 6-3, 6-7.
 
With the Bengals leading 3-1 they needed one more singles win to secure the team win. Castillo-Lopez came out ahead over Buckland, winning 6-1, 7-5 at the No. 4 spot to secure the victory for the Bengals.
 
At the No. 5 spot, Rendek fell short in his close contest against Mosvold 6-2, 0-6, 8-10. 

The last match of the day was at the No. 6 spot where Wikus Robbertse saved six set points against Jacob Huppin in the first set to go on and win the match 7-6, 6-0, giving the Bengals the 5-2 edge.
 
"I think this is a big step in the right direction in the process," said Free. "We're going to celebrate this one for a day, and then look ahead to a week long trip in Arizona where we play three really solid teams, and our first conference opponent."
 
The Bengals next three matches will be on the road in Arizona where they will take on Grand Canyon University, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University in their first conference match-up.