PHOENIX, Arizona– The Idaho State men's tennis team took part in the Big Sky Conference Tournament Thursday morning where they are the fifth seed taking on fourth seeded Weber State. This is the third meeting between the Bengals and Wildcats, where they split their first two matches this season. In this one it was a close match until the end when the Bengals stepped on the gas and propelled themselves to a 4-2 win. Idaho State will move their overall record to 10-13 this season, and advance to the semifinal round tomorrow morning at 9 AM MT, where they will be facing No. 71 Northern Arizona University.
In the first round of the Big Sky Conference Men's Tennis Tournament the 5
th seeded Idaho State Bengals took on the 4
th seeded Weber State Wildcats. Beginning in doubles play
Valentino De Pellegrin and
Andreas Kramer came out with a massive win for the Bengals as they overcame Weber State's best to win a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-4). In the No. 2 doubles match
Patrick Kristensen and
Wikus Robbertse had their hands full, but could not come out victorious as they fell 6-4. The much-needed doubles point came down to the No. 3 doubles match where we witnessed
Victor Sklenka and
Hiroki Fujita put on a clinic, cruising to a clutch 6-2 win, and secured the doubles point for Idaho State. Heading into singles play up 1-0 the Bengals looked to seize control of the match and blow it open.
Victor Sklenka answered that call as he won in straight sets in the No. 5 singles match and set the tone for Idaho State. Following
Victor Sklenka's win we saw
Patrick Kristensen and
Wikus Robbertse fall in the No. 1 and No. 4 singles matches, and just like that the team score was knotted up 2-2, but the Bengals refused to lose. Putting the team on their back
Andreas Kramer and
Hiroki Fujita both clawed their way to come from behind three set victories and clinch the match win for Idaho State.
Andreas Kramer defeated his matchup in the No. 3 singles match 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, and
Hiroki Fujita downed his Wildcat opponent in the No. 6 singles match behind dominant second and third sets, winning 4-6, 6-2, 6-1. The No. 2 singles match had
Valentino De Pellegrin in a hard-fought battle, and just one point away from victory as he was up 5-2 in the third set, but due to the Bengals clinching the win, the No. 2 singles match went unfinished. Idaho State came out victorious 4-2 and advances to the semifinal round.
Head coach Oliver Good had this to say on the win, "It was a great team effort today. We set the tone in the doubles, then were challenged by Weber in a few of the singles matches, but the guys stayed composed and came through big time in some third sets. We will rest up now and we look forward to going at it again tomorrow."
The Idaho State men's tennis team will be back in action tomorrow morning at 9 AM MT in the second round of the Big Sky Tournament where the top seeded Northern Arizona Lumberjacks will be waiting for them.
