MISSOULA, Montana – The Bengals women's tennis team took on the number one team in the Big Sky in the University of Montana Griz on Sunday afternoon in Missoula, Montana. Prior to the match beginning ISU was knotted up with Sacramento State at 4-2 for 2
nd place in the Big Sky standings, and Montana held the top spot at 5-1. Meaning if the Griz could defeat the Bengals they would claim at least a share of the Big Sky Regular Season Championship. The Bengals came into the match searching for their first win in Missoula since 2017.
In the doubles matches Idaho State would go on to sweep all three matches.
Asem Shoybek and
Stefanya Shalakhova would earn a 6-4 win in the #2 doubles match,
Hana Cho and
Megan Lang-Gould would earn a 6-4 win in the #3 doubles match, and the twins, Sol and
Lola O'Lideadha, would win the #1 doubles match, 7-5. Giving ISU a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.
To begin the singles matches Idaho State did not get off to a hot start,
Hana Cho would fall in the #1 singles match 2-6, 1-6, followed by both O'Lideadha sisters falling as well.
Sol O'Lideadha would lose in the #3 singles match 3-6, 4-6, and
Lola O'Lideadha would drop the #2 singles match 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 3-6. With the blink of an eye the Idaho State lead would turn into a 3-1 deficit. With their backs against the walls the Bengals would need all three final singles players to win in order to keep their regular season title hopes alive. Up first was
Stefanya Shalakhova in the #4 singles match. The sophomore out of Kazakstan would fall in her first set 3-6, but keep her cool and complete the comeback, winning the final two sets 6-3, 6-1. Now down 3-2, Idaho State still needed
Asem Shoybek in the #5 singles match and
Megan Lang-Gould in the #6 singles spot to come through. Shoybek would be the next to compleye her task at hand, defeating her Grizzly opponent with ease, 6-4, 6-0. The final Bengal left was
Megan Lang-Gould, and she would deliver for Idaho State. Lang-Gould would down her matchup 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 to give Idaho State the miraculous come from behind win, 4-3.
Following the win, the Bengals' record moves to 11-5 overall and 5-2 in conference play. Idaho State is now in a three-way tie for first place in the Big Sky as ISU, Sacramento State, and Montana all sit at 5-2 with just one more match to play in the regular season.
Head Coach
Gretchen Maloney shared what she and her coaching staff were telling their players in the final three singles matches, "We were telling them to keep fighting, trust their shots and be brave. They made adjustments to their games throughout their matches and it allowed them to come up with the win."
Idaho State will play their final two matches of the regular season on Monday, April 15
th and Tuesday, April 16
th in Lewiston, ID. Their first match on Monday will be against Lewis-Clark State College and their regular season finale on Tuesday will be a neutral site match vs rivals, the University of Idaho Vandals. If the Bengals win their final match vs UI they can clinch at least a share of the regular season championship.
