BOISE, Idaho – The Idaho State men's tennis team opened its 2026 fall season at the Dar Walters Classic in Boise, Idaho, competing against a deep field featuring Boise State, BYU, Idaho, Montana, Montana State, Portland, Utah State and Weber State.
The three-day event featured two-player teams competing in doubles before each player took the court for singles. Idaho State sent four pairings into the tournament, with Justin Ilic/Lewie Bouman and Rafael Maya/Jack Calleri competing in the Orange Draw, while Luka Vujacic/Hayden Ciguenza and brothers Sep de Visser/Timo de Visser competed in the Blue Draw.
The tournament format saw doubles played as a six-game set with a tiebreak at 6-6, followed by best-of-three singles matches. Backdraw matches used a match tiebreak in place of a full third set. Dar Walters Notes & Reminders
"We got a lot of quality matches in this weekend", said Bengals' head coach, Oliver Good. "Highlighted by Justin and Lewie coming second in the orange draw and Hayden and Luka coming third in the blue draw."
Orange Draw
Justin Ilic and Lewie Bouman put together one of the strongest weekends of any Bengal pairing, with both players picking up multiple singles victories, and the pairing finishing 2nd in the Orange Draw.
After receiving an opening-round bye, Ilic and Bouman faced Portland's Manhas/Noel. The Bengals dropped the doubles match, 6-2, but quickly responded in singles. Making his Idaho State debut after transferring from North Dakota, Ilic defeated Manhas in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. Bouman followed with a 6-2, 7-6 (4) victory over Noel to give Idaho State the 2-1 win.
The Bengal duo was even better against Montana's Townes/McCarty. Ilic and Bouman opened with a 7-6 (4) doubles victory before Ilic cruised past Townes, 6-2, 6-4. Bouman completed the 3-0 sweep with a comeback win over McCarty, dropping the opening set before responding for a 5-7, 6-4, 10-4 victory.
Ilic and Bouman closed their weekend against Montana's Meyer/Wilkinson. The Grizzlies took doubles, 6-4, before Meyer rallied past Ilic, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1. Bouman ended his tournament on a high note, defeating Wilkinson, 7-5, 6-4, to finish the weekend 3-0 in singles.
Also competing in the Orange Draw were Rafael Maya and Jack Calleri. Dar Walters Tournament 2026
Maya and Calleri opened with a 2-1 team victory over an Idaho/Portland pairing. Despite falling 6-4 in doubles, the Bengals responded with a pair of singles wins. Maya was credited with a 6-2, 4-1 victory in the provided results, while Calleri earned a 6-3, 6-3 straight-set win.
The duo next faced Montana State's Masselis/Calaquian. The Bobcats took doubles, 6-3, but Maya continued his strong start to the weekend with a dominant 6-1, 6-4 victory over Masselis. Calaquian defeated Calleri, 6-3, 6-0, to give Montana State the team win.
Maya and Calleri bounced back on Saturday, taking their doubles match 7-6 (4) as part of another Idaho State team victory. Maya rallied after dropping the opening set of his singles match, winning 3-6, 6-2, 10-7.
The pairing closed the weekend against Utah State's Garcia/Miner. The Aggies won doubles, 6-4, but Idaho State responded by taking both listed singles matches. Maya defeated Garcia, 6-3, 6-2, before Calleri closed his first Dar Walters Classic with a 6-4, 7-6 (3) victory over Miner.
Maya finished the tournament unbeaten across his four listed singles results, while Calleri earned multiple victories during the Bengals' opening weekend.
Blue Draw
Luka Vujacic and Hayden Ciguenza started the tournament on a roll, winning their first two team matchups. The pair opened against Boise State's Ezzat/Tallakson, their scheduled first-round opponent in the Blue Draw.
The Bengals edged the Broncos in doubles, 7-6 (6). Ezzat responded with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Vujacic, leaving the team result to Ciguenza. The Bengal junior delivered, defeating Tallakson 7-6 (6), 6-3 to secure the 2-1 victory for Idaho State.
Vujacic and Ciguenza followed with another 2-1 victory, this time against Portland's Garcia/Bindor. The Bengals once again came through in a doubles tiebreak, winning 7-6 (5). Garcia defeated Vujacic, 6-4, 6-4, but Ciguenza took care of Bindor, 6-1, 7-5, to clinch another ISU win.
Against Montana's Upton/Kumar, Ciguenza kept his singles winning streak alive. After Montana took doubles, 6-2, Vujacic and Upton went the distance in one of Idaho State's tightest matches of the tournament. Upton eventually prevailed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (10). Ciguenza responded with another three-set win for the Bengals, taking down Kumar, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.
On Sunday, Vujacic and Ciguenza picked up their third doubles victory of the tournament, defeating Idaho's Lis/Wang, 7-6 (5). Wang ended Ciguenza's unbeaten singles run with a 6-2, 3-6, 10-5 victory. A Sunday singles result for Vujacic was not included in the results provided. The Bengal duo would end their weekend with a third place finish in Boise.
The final Bengal pairing featured brothers Sep de Visser and Timo de Visser, with Timo making his Idaho State debut after transferring from Jacksonville State. The brothers received a bye into their first matchup in the Blue Draw. Dar Walters Tournament 2026
Their first action came against Idaho's Lis/Wang, where the de Vissers opened with a 7-5 doubles victory. The Vandals answered in singles, with Lis defeating Sep, 6-4, 7-6 (2), before Wang rallied past Timo, 2-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1.
The brothers responded with a 2-1 team win against Portland's Fernando/Skobelev. After Portland took doubles, 6-3, Sep battled through three sets to defeat Fernando, 7-6 (1), 3-6, 10-4. Timo then secured the team victory with a straight-set win over Skobelev, 6-2, 7-5.
Sep and Timo finished the weekend with a deciding victory, defeating Portland's Garcia/Bindor, 6-4, in doubles before Sep defeated Garcia, 7-5, 6-2, while Timo downed Bindor in a tiebreak, 6-3, 3-6, 10-5.
Coach Good shared, "I really liked the way we competed all weekend and we'll look to build on this at Regionals next week."
Up Next
With the Dar Walters Classic complete, Idaho State will continue its fall tournament schedule at the ITA Mountain Regionals, hosted by BYU on October 6th - 10th in Provo, Utah.
