PROVO, Utah – Idaho State men's tennis junior Sep de Visser made program history at the 2026 ITA Mountain Regional Championships, becoming the first Bengal in program history to reach both the singles and doubles semifinals at the regional tournament.
de Visser's historic singles run included a three-set upset of the tournament's top seed, Marko Maksimovic, in the quarterfinals, marking the deepest singles run by an Idaho State men's tennis player at the ITA Mountain Regionals EVER. He also teamed up with his brother, Timo de Visser, to advance to the doubles semifinals as the tournament's No. 4 seed, marking the 2nd Bengal duo to advance to the semifinal round or championship match in the last three seasons.
The Bengals put together a strong showing throughout the competition, with five players advancing through singles qualifying into the main draw and three picking up opening-round victories.
"Sep had a great week in singles by beating the #1 player in the region and playing a really close semifinal. Sep and Timo combined well in the doubles too, to make it to the semis," Idaho State head coach Oliver Good said. "The biggest positive from the weekend was how the whole team performed. With five players make it through qualifying and then three going on to win their first round of main draw we showed our depth and the work our guys have been putting in."
Sep de Visser put together the most successful singles run in Idaho State men's tennis history at the ITA Mountain Regional Championships, winning four consecutive main-draw matches to become the first Bengal to reach the tournament's singles semifinals.
The Bengal junior opened competition in the Round of 64 against Northern Arizona's Vincent Vohl, cruising to a 6-0, 6-3 victory to advance.
De Visser faced his first seeded opponent in the Round of 32, taking on fifth-seeded Stewart Aronson. He continued his strong play with a 7-5, 6-4 victory, earning his spot in the Round of 16.
There, de Visser faced another seeded opponent in No. 12 Simeon Terziev. The junior delivered another impressive performance, defeating Terziev 6-2, 7-5 to secure a quarterfinal appearance.
Sep's biggest victory came against top-seeded Marko Maksimovic in the quarterfinals. De Visser took the opening set 6-3 before Maksimovic responded with a 6-1 victory in the second. With a spot in the semifinals on the line, de Visser bounced back to claim the deciding set 6-4, completing the upset and securing his place in Idaho State's record books.
The historic run came to an end in the semifinals against Dylan Davies, who defeated de Visser in the tournament's final four.
de Visser finished singles competition with a 4-1 record, including three victories over the Mountain region's best, highlighted by his quarterfinal upset of the tournament's No. 1 seed.
Sep's historic performance continued in doubles competition, where he teamed up with his brother, Timo de Visser, to reach the semifinals as the tournament's fourth-seeded pairing.
After receiving an opening-round bye, the brothers began their doubles campaign with an 8-6 victory over Remy Tregoures and Nicolas Recoura in the Round of 32.
The Bengals followed with another 8-6 victory in the Round of 16, defeating Dario Ciobotaru and Philip Bosin to advance to the quarterfinals.
Facing sixth-seeded Jakub Jedrzejczak and Vincent Vohl with a semifinal berth on the line, Sep and Timo delivered their third consecutive 8-6 victory, knocking off the seeded pairing to move into the tournament's final four.
Their run ended against Montana's Matthew Upton and Duncan McCall, who defeated the Bengals 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals.
The brothers finished doubles competition with a 3-1 record, while Sep became the first Idaho State men's tennis player to advance to both the singles and doubles semifinals at the ITA Mountain Regionals.
Idaho State also received a doubles victory from Rafael Maya and Jack Calleri, who opened the tournament with an 8-6 win over Weber State's Antonie du Toit Malan and Clement Lecoq. The Bengal duo advanced to the Round of 32 before falling to 12th-seeded Balthazar Huss and Charles Frey, 8-1.
Justin Ilic and Lewie Bouman dropped their opening doubles match to Montana's Timo Meyer and Darrshan Suresh Kumar, 8-5, while Luka Vujacic and Hayden Ciguenza fell to Montana's Matthew Upton and Duncan McCall, 8-2.
Timo de Visser also put together an impressive singles performance, advancing through qualifying and reaching the Round of 16 in the main draw.
Entering the qualifying draw as the top seed, de Visser received an opening-round bye before defeating Juan Jose Neira Rodriguez in three sets, 6-0, 5-7, 6-2, to advance into the main draw.
He carried that momentum into the Round of 64 of the Main Draw, where he faced 16th-seeded Yazid Lahjomri of UNLV. De Visser earned a 6-4, 6-4 victory to advance to the Round of 32.
There, he continued his run with a commanding 6-1, 6-4 victory over Caden Hasler, securing his place among the tournament's final 16 singles players.
His run came to an end against the field's second-seeded Filip Soderqvist, who defeated de Visser 6-3, 6-2 in the Round of 16.
While the de Visser brothers highlighted Idaho State's tournament performance, the Bengals also received several strong showings throughout the week.
Five Bengals advanced through qualifying into the main draw, with Lewie Bouman, Justin Ilic, Rafael Maya and Luka Vujacic joining Timo de Visser.
Bouman opened qualifying with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Air Force's Tyler Leaird before delivering one of Idaho State's biggest qualifying wins against the fourth-seeded Gregoire Valente.
After winning the opening set 6-2, Bouman dropped the second 3-6 before responding with a dominant 6-0 victory in the deciding set to complete the upset and advance to the main draw. His run concluded in the Round of 64 against Nevada's Axel Huysmans.
Ilic, seeded eighth in qualifying, opened with a 6-1, 7-6 (7-5) victory over Air Force's Muyang Yi before battling through a three-set match against Clement Lecoq. After dropping the opening set 6-7(2-7), Ilic responded with back-to-back 6-1 set victories to secure his place in the main draw.
He continued his success in the Round of 64 against Boise State's Brayden Tallakson, overcoming another opening-set loss to earn a 6-7(6-8), 6-4, 6-2 victory. Ilic's tournament ended in the Round of 32 against Montana's Matthew Upton, who earned a 6-4, 6-2 victory.
Maya, the No. 16 seed in qualifying, opened with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Boise State's Michael Seversen before advancing past Kemal Arda Karakas following an injury retirement with Maya winning the first set 7-5.
In the main draw, Maya battled Montana's Timo Meyer in a three-set contest before falling 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.
Vujacic, seeded 13th in qualifying, defeated Montana State's Ethan Masselis, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 followed by Antonie du Toit Malan 6-4, 6-4 to advance into the main draw, where he fell to New Mexico's Alberto Perez, 6-3, 6-4.
Jack Calleri and Hayden Ciguenza also earned victories during qualifying competition.
Calleri opened with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Air Force's Daniel Tonkal before falling to second-seeded Alvar Lange, 6-2, 6-3.
Ciguenza, the No. 11 qualifying seed, defeated Northern Arizona's Kai Mills 6-3, 6-2 in his opening match before falling to Lenny Haddad in the second round in three sets.
Several Bengals also participated in additional singles and doubles matches outside the official championship draws.
Bouman added a singles victory over Northern Arizona's Kai Mills, while Ciguenza fell to Montana State's Gareth Igesund, 6-4, 7-5. Calleri dropped his match against Montana's Mason McCarty, 6-2, 6-0, while Vujacic fell to Idaho's Erik Vladimirov.
In doubles action, Maya and Calleri narrowly fell to New Mexico's Nikhil Srivatsa and Juan Jose Neira Rodriguez, 8-7, with the match decided in a tiebreak. Vujacic and Ciguenza also competed against Montana State's Eddie Biss and Andre Stewart, falling 8-4.
Next Up
Idaho State will return to competition in a couple of weeks at the Bobcat Invitational hosted by Montana State, where the Bengals will look to build on their performance at the ITA Mountain Regionals.
"We look forward to getting back to work in practice before the Montana State Tournament in a couple of weeks," Good said.
