After sweeping Portland State and Lewis and Clark College the weekend prior, Idaho took both matches again last weekend over Whitman College and Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston.
LCSC from Lewiston was a different team than Lewis and Clark College from Portland. The team Idaho beat the previous week.
“The guys put in a good performance today,” Idaho coach Jeff Beaman said. “Playing two matches back-to-back is both physically and mentally demanding, but they pushed themselves and took care of business.”
Both matches ended with Idaho winning 6-1 behind strong play from across the roster. Against Whitman, the Vandals went 2-1 in doubles as junior Jackson Varney and senior Cristobal Ramos Salazar defeated Zach Hewlin and Jake Hoegler of Whitman in the No. 1 match. Junior Odon Barta and freshman Felipe Fonseca took the No. 2 doubles match, while freshman Mark Kovacs and junior Sam Jankovich lost the No. 3 doubles match.
Against Lewis-Clark State in doubles, Idaho went 2-1 again. Both pairs of Varney and Ramos Salazar and Barta and Fonseca defeated their LCSC opponents, while the No. 3 pair from LCSC won by default.
In singles, Idaho dominated both schools, winning all five singles matches against Whitman and five of the six singles matches against Lewis-Clark State. Against Whitman, No. 1 Barta and No. 2 Fonseca both won their matches in convincing fashion. No. 3 Varney, No. 4 Ramos Salazar and No. 5 Kovacs were all victorious as well.
All players kept their seeds against Lewis-Clark State and all five won again. Anthony Croteau of LCSC won by default for the sole LCSC victory in singles.
Idaho moves to an impressive 4-1 record as the spring season rolls on, and will have a two-week break before its next matchup against Northern Colorado Feb. 21. It will be the conference opener for the Vandals and the first official Big Sky Conference game for men’s tennis since Idaho’s move back last summer.
Idaho vs. Whitman
Doubles
- Varney/Ramos Salazar (UI) def. Hewlin/ Hoegler (Whitman) 7-6
- Barta/Fonseca (UI) def. Locklear/ Rivers (Whitman) 6-1
- Molkoves/ Jivkov (Whitman) def. Kovacs/ Jankovic (UI) 6-1
Singles
- Barta (UI) def. Molkoves (Whitman) 6-1, 6-1
- Fonseca (UI) def. Hewlin (Whitman) 6-2, 6-3
- Varney (UI) def. Locklear (Whitman) 6-1, 7-6
- Ramos Salazar (UI) def. Jivkov (Whitman) 6-0, 6-3
- Kovacs (UI) def. Rivers (Whitman) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
Idaho vs LCSC
Doubles
- Varney/ Ramos Salazar (UI) def. Woldetsadik/ Zhakupov (LCSC) 6-1
- Barta/ Fonseca (UI) def. SPhuntsok/ Chin (LCSC) 6-0
- Bustani/Croteau (LCSC) won by default
Singles
- Barta (UI) def. Woldetsadik (LCSC) 6-4, 6-0
- Fonseca (UI) def. Zhakupov (LCSC) 6-1, 6-1
- Varney (UI) def. Bustani (LCSC) 7-6, 6-2
- Ramos Salazar (UI) def. Phuntsok (LCSC) 6-3, 6-0
- Kovacs (UI) def. Chin (LCSC) 6-2, 6-1
- Croteau (LCSC) won by default