POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State men's tennis team hosted their annual Bengal Invitational this past weekend and they did not disappoint. This was Pocatello's first time being able to see the new-look Bengals as they return just 2 players from last year's squad and bring in 5 new faces. Other teams at the tournament included BYU, Utah, Utah State, Montana, and Eastern Washington.
This weekend's play for Idaho State was highlighted by
Valentino De Pellegrin sweeping the hardware, earning the championship victories in both singles and doubles, along with partner
Victor Sklenka.
Idaho State had 6 players representing them in the Bengal Invitational. All 6 played in both singles and doubles, meaning ISU had 3 doubles teams.
Beginning in doubles play with
Jowan Rawson and
Sam Wensley. Rawson and Wensley began their tournament with an opening round loss to Perez Rodenas/Wiger-Nordas of Montana, 5-8, however, in their consolation match the Bengal duo would bounce back and defeat Kammerer/Dalos of EWU, 8-3.
The next ISU doubles team was
Quentin Lamothe and
Lewie Bouman. Lamothe and Bouman would fight till the end in their first-round match against Montana's Wilkinson/McCall, however, the Bengal tandem would come up just short, falling 7-8 (5-7). In the team's consolation match they would come out victorious, downing Watkins/Lesjak of Montana, 8-5.
The final doubles pairing for Idaho State was top seeded
Valentino De Pellegrin and
Victor Sklenka. The duo would earn a first round bye, and follow that up with a second-round victory over Eastern Washington's Bhatti/Waddock, 8-1. In the semifinals De Pellegrin and Sklenka would beat Perez Rodenas/Wiger-Nordas of Montana due to injury, advancing the Idaho State pair to the Bengal Invitational Doubles championship match. In the final, the Bengals would cruise to a championship win over Utah State's Nobel/Goubin, 8-2.
In singles play Idaho State was well represented.
Lewie Bouman got things started for ISU, defeating B. Thomas of EWU 6-1, 6-2. In the second-round Bouman would not fair as well, falling to F. Perez Rodenas, 7-5, 6-4, 6-2.
The next Bengal up was
Victor Sklenka. Sklenka would earn an opening round bye, but would fall in the second round to D. Goubin, 2-6, 6-3, 2-6. In his lone consolation match, Sklenka would retire due to injury.
Sam Wensley would fall in his first-round match to Utah's C. Frey, 5-7, 3-6, however, would bounce back and get a win against A. Bhatti of EWU, 6-4, 6-4.
Quentin Lamothe would win his first match of the tournament, downing T. Dalos from EWU in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. Lamothe would then earn a victory in his second-round match, defeating BYU's A. Edmonston with ease, 6-0, 6-1. In the quarterfinals Lamothe would face his teammate,
Valentino De Pellegrin and fall, 3-6, 1-6.
Jowan Rawson opened the singles tournament with great play, earning a come from behind win against Utah State's K. Rigby, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4), and following that up with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Montana's Jacob Watkins. However, in the quarterfinals Rawson would fall to B. Wiger-Nordas from UM, 5-7, 6-1, 6-7 (3-7).
After earning a first round bye,
Valentino De Pellegrin could see his path to the championship. In the second round he would down G. Citadini from Utah in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), and then win his quarterfinal match versus teammate,
Quentin Lamothe, 6-3, 6-1. In the semifinals De Pellegrin would book his ticket to the championship match by defeating UM's B. Wiger-Nordas in three sets, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2. In the championship De Pellegrin was looking to secure the doubles and singles sweep. He would need to defeat Montana's F. Perez Rodenas to do so, and would deliver. Winning in three sets, De Pellegrin would win by a score of 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.
Head coach, Oliver Good, shared his thoughts on the team's performance over the weekend, "It was a great weekend where we got a lot of quality matches in against some strong opposition.
Valentino played tough all week long, and deserved his win in the singles. Victor and Val have been combining well together all year and we're excited about what they can do for the rest of the fall.
Just as important, we got some great matches into our new guys and I was really pleased for Sam who won his final singles match on Sunday. He competed hard all tournament and was rewarded by coming back from a set and 5-3 down to win against a good player from Utah State.
We're excited to get some more matches in to our team this upcoming weekend in Utah."
The Bengals are back in action this weekend, October 11
th – 13
th, at the University of Utah Invitational in Salt Lake City, UT.
