Idaho has a good showing at the ITA Regionals in Vegas over the weekend
The third fall tournament concluded for the Idaho men’s tennis team, highlighted by a solid tournament run by junior Odon Barta Wednesday to Saturday at the ITA Regionals in Las Vegas.
“Odon played very well this tournament,” Idaho coach Art Hoomiratana said. “Several coaches at the tournament commented on how much he has improved from last year. He is definitely emerging as one of the stronger players in the region.”
Wednesday morning, Barta took on Alex Locci of Northern Arizona. Barta defeated Locci 6-3, 6-4 on his way to the second round. His next match was more difficult, going up against David Fox of Denver, who was the No. 11 seed in the tournament. He gave Barta trouble, but Barta still pulled out the victory, 7-5, 7-6.
File photo by Nathan Romans | Argonaut Senior Cristobal Ramos Salazar returns a volley during pratice Sept. 24 at the Memorial Gym Tennis Courts. Salazar and the Vandals competed Wednesday to Saturday at the ITA Regionals in Las Vegas
After taking out Ryan Andrada of Nevada 7-5, 4-0 and barely squeezing by Liam Goldberg of New Mexico State 4-6, 6-2, 7-6, Barta found himself in the quarterfinals with Henry Craig, the tournament’s No. 1 seed and eventual champion. Much like Craig was for everyone in the tournament, the Denver Pioneer was too much for Barta, defeating him 6-4, 6-3.
Junior Jackson Varney also had a strong showing in Vegas, but like Barta, fell to Craig. Varney opened Wednesday against the tournament’s No. 25 seed, Sean Baklini from New Mexico. It was a long and physical match, and Varney had to battle back from an early deficit. After losing the first set 6-1, he barely squeezed by 7-6 in the second set to remain alive.
Luckily for Varney, he was able to gain control and dominate the third set 6-2. His next opponent was Mitchel Knight of Northern Colorado, and Varney was able to get by him 6-4, 6-4. It was in the Round of 32 against Craig when Varney fell 6-2, 6-3 and was eliminated from the tournament.
Freshmen Felipe Fonseca and Mark Kovacs had the exact same results during the tournament. Fonseca opened by beating Dillon Launius from Air Force 6-2, 2-6, 6-1. The freshman lost a close match in the second round to the tournament’s No. 12 seed, Brendan McClain from Boise State 6-1, 3-6, 7-5. The loss sent Fonseca to the consolation bracket, where he beat Tom Douglas of New Mexico State 6-4, 6-1, but then lost to Matt Cowley from Utah 6-2, 7-5 to end his tournament run.
Kovacs won his first match, like Fonseca, and the freshman outplayed Juan Canales from BYU to advance, 6-4, 6-4. Kovacs ran into the tournament’s No. 4 seed, Ace Matias from UNLV in the second round, losing 6-4, 6-3. In the consolation bracket, he won his first match against Max Olson of Air Force 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, before losing his next match to Mile Cillic from Nevada 6-7,7-6,6-4 on his way to elimination.
“I was really happy with the effort of our two freshmen,” Hoomiratana added. “They got some good matches in and are getting better and better with each tournament.”
Idaho failed to find much success in doubles, as it was more early exits for the Vandals. Fonseca and senior Cristobal Ramos Salazar won their opening match against Jamie Barajas and Sebastian Schneider from Utah State 8-6, before losing to Ace Matias and Denys Pume from UNLV 8-3. Barta and Kovacs won their first match over Jeremy Bourgeois and Juan Canales from BYU 8-7, before losing to Brian Foley and Toby Mitchell of Boise State 8-6.
“I like the way we competed and our mental preparation for the most part,” Hoomiratana said. “Moving forward, we need to improve closing out matches, as we had many close matches that went the other way.”
Ben Evensen can be reached at [email protected]