POCATELLO, ID- The Idaho State men's tennis team returned home for their final home match of the season, squaring off against No. 61, the Northern Arizona University Lumberjacks, who are riding a nine-match winning streak and have not conceded more than two team points in any Big Sky match this season. Idaho State gave it their all, however fell to the Lumberjacks 4-3. After the loss the Bengals will move to 7-13 on the season and 1-5 in conference play. The Bengals are in a tight race for the 6
th seed in the Big Sky tournament later this month as they trail Montana by 1 game and Portland State by .5 game in the standings, with just two matches left to play for each school in the season.
The Bengals had their hands full, taking on the 61
st ranked team in the nation in Northern Arizona Saturday morning. Idaho State looked to take command early in the doubles matches, however, after a 6-1 loss in the No. 1 doubles match the Bengals knew the pressure was on in the No. 2 and 3 doubles matches. As each came down to the wire the Bengals could not complete the comeback as they fell 7-5 in the No. 2 doubles match, leading to the No. 3 doubles match going unfinished with the Bengals trialing by just one point in a tiebreak, 6-6 (2-3). Heading into the singles matches down 0-1 the Bengals were looking to rally against the top team in the Big Sky. Doubles partners
Valentino De Pellegrin and
Andreas Kramer stepped right up for the Bengals, as De Pellegrin downed his Lumberjack opponent in the No. 1 singles match in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, and Kramer followed that up with his own straight set win in the No. 2 singles match 6-4, 6-2. With Idaho State gaining momentum and looking to take a 3-1 lead in the match
Victor Sklenka battled in the No. 3 singles match, but lost in heartbreaking fashion in a third set tiebreaker, 6-1, 2-6, 6-7 (4-7). With the match now tied 2-2 the Bengals were looking for answers, but did not find enough.
Wikus Robbertse and
Hiroki Fujita both lost in the No. 4 and No. 5 singles matches and NAU clinched the victory. In the No. 6 singles match
Ege Cankus put on an absolute show, dazzling in his come from behind win as he took down his opponent 2-6, 6-4, 10-8. The Bengals put up a valiant effort, but unfortunately, it was not enough as the Lumberjacks came out victorious, 4-3.
Head coach Oliver Good shared his remarks after the match, "Another close one today. We came up just short against a great opponent, but we showed we are capable of great things and these experiences only make us stronger. We are looking forward to our next one."
The Bengals will be on the road for their final two matches of the season as they will take on Eastern Washington University Friday, April 14
th at 2 PM and Montana State University on Sunday April 16
th at noon.
