Late season struggles for the Vandal men’s tennis team continued over the weekend. Idaho dropped two matches in Boise, falling 5-0 to rival Boise State (22-4) and 1-4 to UC-Irvine (10-14). These two losses drop the Vandals to 7-13 on the season.
The Vandals went toe to toe with the No. 22 ranked Broncos with four of the six singles matches going into a third set.
Of those four, Artemiy Nikitin and Odon Barta’s matches with Boise State’s Andy Bettles, Garrett Patton and Brendan McClain respectively did not finish due to the Broncos already having won the doubles point and the four needing matches on the singles side. Filip Fitchel battled for three sets with BSU’s Abe Hekow, with two of them going into sudden death before falling 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3).
“At one point we had four matches playing in the third set — and tied,” Idaho assistant coach Art Hoomiratana said. “It could have gone either way, but they’re a tough team and it didn’t work out.”
The Vandals were without the nationally ranked doubles duo yet again as Cristobal Ramos Salazar, who had been nursing a nagging forearm injury, was held out after his forearm was feeling a little stiff before the match. The team decided to give him a little more time to rest, Hoomiratana said.
In Ramos Salazar’s place, Nikitin teamed up with Bendeck yet again and at No. 1 doubles the Vandals claimed their lone victory over BSU, as the duo bested BSU’s McClan and Patton 8-7, 8-6.
The match with the Broncos was set up interestingly, as they played the doubles half of the match on Friday night then came back on Saturday morning to play out the singles side — before taking on UC Irvine, who hadn’t played a match that day.
The split match wasn’t the only difference this weekend. For the first time this season, the Vandals dealt with a crowd. With it being an in-state rivalry, the BSU fans in attendance would let out a huge cheer when the Broncos won a point, and when the Vandals won a point it hushed them. It was a great atmosphere and the team seemed to enjoy it, Hoomiratana said. It wasn’t disrespectful, it was just fun, he added.
After an emotionally and physically draining back and forth singles set with BSU, the Vandals just didn’t have enough energy to defeat Irvine. The Vandals were on the court with the Broncos for about three hours, Hoomiratana said, then they had to turn around an hour-and-a-half later and face UC Irvine, the team just didn’t have the energy left after the emotional BSU match.
The Anteaters took it to the exhausted Vandals on Saturday afternoon, making short work of the Vandals on the doubles side picking up victories at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles, before Nikitin and Bendeck were able to finish their match with Irvine’s Ryan Cheung and Shuhei Shibahara.
The lone Vandal victory came at No. 2 singles as Jose Bendeck avenged his tough 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5) loss to BSU’s Garrett Patton with a decisive 6-1, 6-4 victory over Irvine’s Tyler Pham.
Nikitin and Cesar Torres’ matches with Cheung and Rafael Davidian did not finish, after Irvine had already clinched the match.
However, Hoomiratana did not want to use that as an excuse for the Vandals’ performance against Irvine. He said they compete hard and they are much better than their record indicates.
This set up, Hoormiratana said, is somewhat of a preview for the WAC Tournament. They will need to be able to play when they are tired, and in various sorts of conditions — including the wind that kicked up during the Irvine match.
This experience and the bonding that took place during this trip should give them a confidence boost going forward, Hoormiratana said.
The Vandals will try to end their four-match skid on April 17 as they travel to Missoula, Mont., to face future Big Sky Conference foe and longtime rival Montana.
Joshua Gamez can be reached at [email protected]