The Idaho men’s tennis team was unable to win what would have been a season-best third straight match as the Vandals dropped matches to both Hawaii (5-2) and Portland (6-1) in Portland, Ore., on Sunday and Monday respectively.
The lone bright spot for the Vandals, who fell to 7-11 with the losses, was the strong, consistent play of Jose Bendeck. Bendeck won both of his singles matches playing No. 2 singles over Hawaii’s Chas Okamoto and Portland’s Reid DeLaubenfels. He was the lone Vandal to win both matches in singles play.
“Jose is playing really good tennis right now,” Idaho assistant coach Ryan Gilmore said.
Along with Bendeck’s victory on Sunday, No. 1 singles player Artemiy Nikitin continued his intense spring campaign as he defeated Hawaii’s Nils Schuhmann 6-3, 7-5. Unfortunately, that was where the Vandals’ luck ended against the Rainbow Warriors, as they swept the remaining four singles contests — despite Andrew Zedde’s fight for three sets with Hawaii’s Carter Lam that ultimately ended in a 4-6, 7-6(2), 10-2 victory for Lam.
On top of this four-match sweep on the singles side, Hawaii was able to stop the dominant Bendeck in doubles, as he and partner Zedde — filling in for the injured Cristobal Ramos Salazar — fell to Hawaii’s David Schuster and Schumann 8-3.
The loss served as a catalyst as the usually strong Vandal doubles lineup was dominated by Hawaii en route to a doubles sweep.
“When you change things up, it is going to affect the performance a little bit,” Gilmore said of the changes in the doubles lineup.
Luckily, Bendeck may be getting his usual partner back soon, as Gilmore said that Ramos Salazar had been getting his injured forearm treated all weekend and he may be back sooner than expected.
“Once we get guys healthy, the lineup will be a little more solidified. With guys hurt, you have to find out who’s playing well and on what days,” he said.
The woes for the Vandals continued on Monday when they played West Coast Conference standout Portland. The lone Vandal victory came at No. 1 singles when stand out Vandals Nikitin and Bendeck teamed up to defeat Portland’s Alex Ferrero and Ratan Gill.
The win at No. 1 doubles was not enough for the Vandals to start another winning streak, however, with the Pilots claiming victory in the No. 2 and 3 doubles contests. They also won five of the six singles matches in straight sets, with Jose Bendeck being the only Vandal to walk away victorious on both the doubles and singles side. He was also the lone player standing between Portland and a shutout, which would have been the Vandals’ fourth shutout loss of the season.
The Vandals will return to action on April 11 when they travel to Boise to take on in-state rival Boise State.
Joshua Gamez can be reached at [email protected]