BOISE, Idaho – The Idaho State men's tennis team opened their fall slate with the Dar Walters Classic in Boise, Idaho where Boise State University hosted the Bengals along with Portland, Nevada, Montana State, Air Force, Idaho, BYU, and Weber State. In this tournament each "team" will be composed of two players from each school. Each of these teams will play a best of three matches. The first match will be a doubles match between all four players, and the second and third matches will be singles matches where each player will take on another from the opposing team.
Idaho State's play was highlighted by
Valentino De Pellegrin and
Victor Sklenka finishing second overall and
Sam Wensley and
Quentin Lamothe placing third in the Orange Draw.
The Bengals had three teams of two players each competing in this tournament.
The first team competing for Idaho State was
Jowan Rawson and
Lewie Bouman. Rawson and Bouman opened the tournament Friday with a 3-0 loss to Weber State's Zulch/Kruger. In the groups' first consolation match they fell to Air Force's Wolf/Tingleaf, 2-1. In the duo's final consolation match the grouping earned their first win together, defeating Staton/Garner of Air Force, 2-1. In this match Rawson and Bouman won the doubles match 6-3, followed by
Jowan Rawson downing M. Staton in straight sets 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, but Bouman could not follow his teammate up, dropping his singles match, 1-6, 4-6 to K. Garner.
The second team for Idaho State was
Sam Wensley and
Quentin Lamothe. In the team's opening round match, they defeated Lai/Wang of Idaho, 3-0. In doubles Wensley and Lamothe won 6-2, and followed that up with Lamothe defeating Y. Lai, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 10-5 in the first singles match and Wensley downing E. Wang 6-1, 7-5 to complete the opening round sweep for the Bengal duo. In the pairings' second-round match they took down Hermassi/Huysmans of Nevada, 2-1. The Idaho State duo lost the doubles match 4-6, followed by Lamothe winning the first singles match over A. Huysmans, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. With the match coming down to
Sam Wensley's singles match, he would deliver under the clutch, downing R. Hermassi in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. In the semi-finals the Bengal pairing would fall to BYU's Wells/Schreiner, 2-1. Following the loss Wenlsey and Lamothe would advance to the third-place match and take on Nevada's Contet/Valente. In the doubles match the Bengals would roll to a 6-2 win. In Lamothe's singles match he would fall to M. Contet, 3-6, 6-1, 6-10, however, Wensley would come through once again and defeat G. Valente, 6-2, 6-4 to secure the third-place finish for the duo.
The final grouping for Idaho State was
Valentino De Pellegrin and
Victor Sklenka. The reigning Dar Walter Classic champs would receive a first-round bye, and for the second-round match they would down Owen/Goldammer, 2-1. In doubles the duo would roll to a 6-1 win and in the first singles match
Victor Sklenka would secure the win for the tandem, defeating H. Owen with ease, 6-1, 6-2. In De Pellegrin's singles match he would fall to T. Goldammer 4-6, 2-6. In Sklenka and De Pellegrin's semi-final match they would down Portland's Groysman/Fernando, 3-0. From the get-go the Bengal pair was on a roll in this one, cruising to a 6-3 win in doubles play and following that up with Sklenka winning 6-1, 6-1 over M. Groysman, and De Pellegrin winning 6-3, 6-2 over C. Fernando, earning the Bengals a spot in the championship and a shot at back-to-back championships in Boise. In the final the Idaho State grouping would face off against Portland's Keremedchiev/Skobelev. In doubles play the Bengals would fall, 4-6, but
Victor Sklenka wouldn't go down without a fight, defeating S. Skobelev in their singles match, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3. With it all coming down to
Valentino De Pellegrin, he would fall to N. Keremedchiev, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6. Giving the Bengal duo the runner-up finish.
Head coach Oliver Good shared his thoughts on the team's first action since last season, "It was a great tournament for our team as we prepare for the spring season ahead. We got a lot of matches in, which is crucial, especially for our new players this season.
Victor and Valentino did a fantastic job making the final of the tournament which they won last year. Our whole team had performances which they will learn from and will help them to become better players.
We have a great group and we look forward to what is to come. Our next tournament is our own Bengal invitational from October 4
th-6
th so we look forward to having some great support at home."
The Idaho State men's tennis team has two more tournaments this fall before the ITA Mountain Regionals hosted by UNLV this year. The next tournament the Bengals will participate in will be the Bengal Invitational hosted by Idaho State on October 4
th through October 6
th.
