The Idaho men’s tennis team took a break from Big Sky play to compete against an in-state rival, Boise State, Sunday. Idaho came up short against the Broncos, losing 4-3.
The first heartbreak of the day occurred in doubles play. Junior Felipe Fonseca and freshman Esteban Santibanez lost a tough contest 6-1.
Sophomore Lucas Coutinho and freshman Guilherme Scarpelli attempted to bring Idaho back points, notching a 6-3 win over Harvey Shackleton and Pedro Platzeck. However, the Broncos succeeded in sealing the doubles point following a 6-3 loss by junior Mark Kovacs and freshman Carlos Longhi Neto.
Down by a point, the Vandals looked to turn the match around in singles play.
Idaho came out with a vengeance, earning the first two singles points on the sixth and fifth courts. Scarpelli led the way, defeating Ryland McDermott 6-3, 6-3. Santibanez followed up with a narrow win over Morgan Stone. Santibanez dropped the first set, but edged out Stone in two consecutive wins in the next sets.
On court No. 1, Boise State got back to business. Kyle Butters overcame Kovacs in a tight match. Butters earned the opening set 6-3. Kovacs rebounded and forced the second set into a tiebreaker. However, Butters proved to be too much and took away the Broncos’ second point of the day.
Jack Heslin of Boise State broke the 2-2 tie. He fell to Longhi Neto 6-3 in the first set. Longhi Neto was edged out of the second by a narrow 7-5 margin. Heslin beat Longhi Neto in the tiebreaker, giving the Broncos a one-point lead.
Fonseca capitalized on his chance to even the score. After falling to an early deficit at the hands of Brian Tran, he rebounded to win the next to sets 7-5 and 6-2.
The outcome of the match came down to the winner on court No. 3. Tied at 3-3 with the Broncos, the Vandals relied on Coutinho to deliver. Unfortunately for Idaho, Boise State’s Platzeck came out on top and jumped out to an early lead in the first set, winning 6-4. Coutinho gained a step on Platzeck, tying the match after a 7-5 win in the second. Coutinho lost steam quickly in the third, and Platzeck cruised to a 6-2 win to end the match.
Idaho (11-7, 6-2 BSC) is now tied with Eastern Washington for second place in the Big Sky Conference. Both teams sit behind Northern Arizona (13-7, 8-1 BSC). The Vandals travel to Cheney to take on Eastern Washington April 12. With three matches left in the season for Idaho, a win against the Eagles could result in a first-round bye heading into the Big Sky tournament.
Brandon Hill can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @brandonmtnhill