The Idaho men’s tennis team may not have enjoyed the true meaning of a home advantage over the weekend, but that did not stop the Vandals from dominating the court as if it was their own.
The Vandals dispatched Northern Colorado 6-1 Saturday afternoon before taking down Montana 4-3 Sunday at the indoor courts in Lewiston.
“Everything is looking good right now,” Idaho head coach Abid Akbar said in a news release, “We switched up our doubles and I think that worked. Overall, I am pretty happy.”
The Vandals (11-6, 6-2 BSC) opened the weekend with a Big Sky showdown against the Bears (6-12, 3-7 BSC), sweeping doubles and surrendering one point in singles play.
Junior Mark Kovacs and freshman Carlos Longhi Neto spearheaded the doubles effort for Idaho with a 6-0 showing, while freshmen duo Felipe Fonseca and Esteban Santibanez claimed the point with a 6-2 victory.
Fonseca continued his stellar play with a 6-3, 6-2 showing against senior Alex Vakouftsis on the No. 2 singles court to claim his team-high 13th win of the season. Kovacs also picked up a strong victory with a 6-2, 6-4 win over junior Connor Finerty.
Freshman Kyle Pease claimed the only point for Northern Colorado with a 6-2, 6-2 victory against Longhi Neto on the No. 3 singles court.
“Every court was a battle,” Akbar said. “We fought hard. Northern Colorado is an improved team. They beat us last year at their place, but I think they are a better team this year.”
The Vandals continued conference play Sunday with a tight matchup against the Grizzlies (8-7, 3-3 BSC) who took an early lead in the matchup.
“We lost a very close doubles point,” Akbar said. “That is going to happen from time to time when you play good conference teams like Montana.”
Idaho countered with a strong performance in singles play, as Kovacs claimed a tense 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (1) tiebreaking victory against junior Yannick Schmidl. Fonseca also stole a close match against junior Victor Casadevall with a 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 showing.
“Felipe fought through cramps and came back,” Akbar said. “He has always been a tough competitor for us. It was great to see our top two guys really battling it out, giving us a chance on the other courts.”
With the Vandals holding a 3-2 lead, Santibanez claimed the win for Idaho with a 6-3, 6-4 performance against freshman Max Korkh on the No. 5 singles court.
Idaho returns to action Sunday for a rivalry matchup on the road with Boise State (4-18).
Josh Grissom can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @GoshJrissom