A shorthanded Idaho men’s tennis team came within one match of beating its toughest opponent yet this season.
Philip Vukelich | Argonaut
Vandal sophomore Cristobal Ramos Salazar volleys during practice Monday on the Memorial Gym tennis courts. The Vandals were one singles match away from defeating No. 39 BYU Friday in Spokane, when they lost 4-3.
The No. 72 Vandals fell just short of upsetting No. 39 Brigham Young University in a 4-3 loss in Spokane on Friday.
After Idaho lost the doubles point, several Vandals stepped up in the singles matches to force a tiebreaker in the final match of the day at No. 6. BYU’s John Pearce defeated Idaho senior Ivan Krijanto 6-1, 6-1 in that match to clinch the victory for the Cougars. Idaho dropped to 20-5 on the season and 1-3 against ranked teams.
Idaho played without one of its key players Friday. Senior Marius Cirstea suffered an injury during Idaho’s match against Texas-Arlington on April 1 and will not likely be back until the Western Athletic Conference Championships next week. Cirstea is one of Idaho’s best doubles players. He and fellow senior Abid Akbar normally play at No. 1. Cirstea has also been an important staple at the No. 2 and No. 3 singles positions all season for the Vandals.
The undermanned Vandals started slowly when Krijanto and freshman Matt Oddonetto lost the No. 3 doubles match 8-3. That was followed by another loss at No. 2 where senior Abid Akbar and sophomore Dmitry Perevoshchikov fell 8-4. Since BYU had already clinched the point, the No. 1 doubles match with sophomore Cristobal Ramos Salazar and junior Jose Bendeck going against the No. 86 ranked combo of Patrick Kawka and Francis Sargeant went unfinished.
Without the doubles point, the Cougars needed to win three singles matches to secure the victory. The Vandals, though, did not make it easy against the highest ranked opponent they have played this year. Idaho nearly completed a comeback win thanks in large part to two Vandals who were able to end personal losing streaks.
Idaho dropped the first match of the day when Salazar lost at No. 4
to Keaton Cullimore.
Then sophomore Cesar Torres, who has lost his last seven matches, pulled out an impressive two-set win at No. 5 against Andrey Goryachkov.
Akbar, who has lost his last two singles matches, battled to win the first set 7-6(4), and then won the second set 6-3 to secure the point.
Idaho coach Jeff Beaman said he was glad to see Akbar playing with renewed confidence after struggling lately.
“Abid had the court presence he hadn’t had in a while, beating a very good player,” Beaman said.
Perevoshchikov nearly upset No. 42 ranked Kawka at No. 1. After losing the first set, Perevoshchikov, who dealt with cramps during the match, forced a third set after winning the second set 7-5. He lost the third 6-3.
Bendeck, last week’s WAC men’s tennis player of the week after going 3-0 in singles and doubles, continued his stellar play while taking over the No. 3 spot for Cirstea. He pulled out a three-set win against Sargeant to force the tie-breaker between Pearce and Krijanto. Unfortunately for Idaho, Pearce was too much for Krijanto and the Cougars escaped with the win.
While preparing for this match, Beaman said Idaho needed a complete effort from everyone in the lineup. He said that despite losing four matches, that effort was showcased in singles.
“Everybody in singles put out great performances,” Beaman said.
Idaho will need to maintain that effort when they play for WAC Tournament seeding this weekend. The Vandals have two conference matches, one against Texas-San Antonio on Friday, April 19, and another against Denver on Sunday ,April 21. Both UTSA and Denver are undefeated in conference play.
Beaman said Idaho will be a top three seed in the conference depending on how they do in those matches. His team’s goal is to earn at least a two seed because the top two teams get a bye during the first day of the tournament, which takes place April 26-28 in Denver.
Anthony Kuipers can be reached at [email protected]