POCATELLO, Idaho - The Idaho State men's tennis team is competing at the ITA Mountain Regional Tournament in Provo, Utah this week at the BYU outdoor tennis courts. The tournament began on September 21 and is set to run through the 25.
The ITA Regional tournament brings all of the best players in the Mountain Region together and provides players a chance to qualify for the ITA National Intercollegiate Fall NCAA Division I Championships.
Six players on the ISU roster traveled to BYU to compete at Regionals including returning players
Patrik Trhac,
Ege Cankus,
Hiroki Fujita, and
Wikus Robbertse. Competing for the first time as a Bengal is
Patrick Kristensen and
Andreas Kramer.
The Bengals doubles duo of Trhac and Kristensen, seeded ninth in the main draw, hit the court for the first time competing as a doubles team.
Trhac and Kristensen earned a tight first round victory 8-6 over Ed Pudney and Oisin Shaffrey from the University of Montana. Using the momentum from their first round win, team "Pat" went on to beat the second seed and No. 34 ranked team in the country Franco Capalbo and Geronimo Busleiman from the University of Utah 8-5, to find themselves amongst the top eight teams in the draw.
"This was a much improved doubles performance from our team today," said Head Coach
Alexander Free. "We're glad to get 'team Pat' a ranked win vs a PAC 12 opponent and we plan to keep good momentum through the rest of the doubles."
In the consolation draw,
Ege Cankus and
Wikus Robbertse also secured a huge win over the University of Utah, defeating Mathias Gavelin and Bruno Krenn 8-6. In their second round the pair fell to Louis Menard and Martin Simecek from New Mexico State in a tight battle 8-7(5).
In the singles draw Trhac earned a first round win over Alexander Maggs from the University of New Mexico 7-6(5), 7-5. In his next round, Trhac had a tight first set against his NAU opponent but fell short against Dominik Buzonics 7-6(1), 6-4.
Andreas Kramer earned his first singles win as a Bengal on day 1 of the tournament against Brigham Andrus from BYU. Kramer's match went to three sets before he ultimately pulled away to win the match 6-4, 1-6, 6-2. In his second round, Kramer faced the number eight seed Francisco Bastias from the University of Utah and fell in a tight match 6-3, 7-5.
Trhac and Kristensen play their quarter final match against opponents from Montana State Thursday, September 23 at 9 a.m.
After his opponent was forced to pull out of the tournament due to injury,
Hiroki Fujita continues his singles run in the consolation draw at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, September 23.
The complete singles and doubles draw with updated results can be found
here.
Idaho State Results:
Main Draw Singles First Round:
(25)
Patrik Trhac def Alexander Maggs (UNM): 7-6(5), 7-5
Zach Fuchs (BYU) def (26)
Patrick Kristensen: 7-5, 6-1
Andreas Kramer def Brigham Andrus (BYU): 6-4, 1-6, 6-2
Lawrence Scoglitano (Montana) def
Hiroki Fujita: 6-4, 6-4
Tristan Sirap (Weber) def
Ege Cankus: 6-1, 7-5
Rian Ta (Utah) def
Wikus Robbertse: 6-2,6-2
Main Draw Singles Second Round:
Dominic Buszonics (NAU) def (25)
Patrik Trhac: 7-6(1), 6-4
Francisco Bastias (Utah) def
Andreas Kramer: 6-3, 7-5
Main Draw Doubles First Round:
(9)
Patrik Trhac /
Patrick Kristensen: bye
Pearce / Schreiner (BYU) def
Hiroki Fujita /
Andreas Kramer: 8-6
Sarap / Mourouni (Weber) def
Ege Cankus /
Wikus Robbertse: 8-3
Main Draw Doubles Second Round:
(9)
Patrik Trhac /
Patrick Kristensen def Shaffrey / Pudney (UM): 8-6
Main Draw Doubles Third Round:
(9)
Patrik Trhac /
Patrick Kristensen def (2) Capalbo / Busleiman (Utah): 8-5
Consolation Singles:
Thomas Navarro (UNLV) def (26)
Patrick Kristensen: 4-6, 6-1, 10-6
Jordan Sauer (UNLV) def
Ege Cankus: 6-4, 7-6(8).
Jackson Atherton (UNLV) def
Wikus Robbertse: 7-5, 7-6(5)
Hiroki Fujita def Jordan Sauer (UNLV): Wo[inj]
Consolation Doubles
Ege Cankus /
Wikus Robbertse def Gavelin / Krenn (Utah): 8-6
Clakre / Akkermans (New Mexico State) def
Hiroki Fujita /
Andreas Kramer: 8-3
Menard / Simecek def
Ege Cankus /
Wikus Robbertse 8-7(5).
