POCATELLO, ID- The Bengals men's tennis team returned home to Pocatello for their first home matches of 2023 where they played host to Seattle University and Big Sky foes Weber State. Idaho State took on the Weber State Wildcats Saturday afternoon where they came out victorious 4-3. The following morning Idaho State came right back and dominated the Seattle Redhawks 6-1, going 2-0 on the weekend and improving to 5-5 on the season.
In the Bengals match against Weber State on Saturday the Bengals were unable to secure the doubles matches point as the No. 1 doubles team of
Valentino De Pellegrin and
Andreas Kramer easily handled their matchup 6-1, however the Bengals could not come out on top in the No. 2 or No. 3 doubles matches, losing in close ones 7-5 and 6-4. As Idaho State went into the singles matches down 1-0 we saw No. 1
Patrick Kristensen battle for nearly 4 hours as he came out on top in an absolute dogfight 7-6 (5-4), 6-7 (4-5), 7-6 (5-4).
Valentino De Pellegrin found himself in a similar situation in the No. 2 singles match as he had gone 7-6 (5-4) and 6-7 (4-5) in the first two sets, however he hit his stride in the third set, finishing off his Wildcat opponent 6-2.
Andreas Kramer looked unstoppable this weekend in the No. 3 singles matches as he won in straight sets against his Weber State matchup, 6-1 and 4-1. In the No. 4 singles match
Wikus Robbertse had an opportunity to clinch for Idaho State, however failed to do so as he fell in three sets 2-6, 6-1, 3-6.
Victor Sklenka knew he could clinch the 3
rd consecutive victory against Weber State for the team with a win in the No. 5 singles match and he had the mamba mentality flowing today, as he tore his opponent apart in straight sets, 6-2 and 6-1. In the final match of the day for the Bengals
Hiroki Fujita was facing off in the No. 6 singles match. Hiroki took the first set 6-2 but could not hold off his Wildcat opponent in the second, losing 7-5, and in his third and final set Hiroki lost in a shootout 10-7.
In their next match on Sunday morning the Bengals squared off with Seattle University. Much like the previous day the Bengals got off to a slow start, dropping the doubles matches point as Seattle U swept. The Bengals took that personally as the swept the singles matches behind some brilliant performances. We saw
Valentino De Pellegrin in the No. 2 singles match,
Wikus Robbertse in the No. 4 singles match, Victor Skelenka in the No. 5 singles match and
Hiroki Fujita in the No. 6 singles match all take care of business as they won in straight sets against their Redhawk opponents.
Patrick Kristensen took care of his matchup in three sets by a score of 6-7 (7-4), 6-1, and 6-3.
Andreas Kramer also took care of his matchup in three sets 4-6, 6-3, and 7-5.
After the weekend the Idaho State men's tennis team is now 5-5 and 0-1 in BSC. They will be will be back on the road as they travel to Colorado to take on Air Force on Wednesday March 8
th and the University of Denver on Friday March 10
th.
