While the snow piled up along city streets in Moscow, Vandal tennis piled up the wins inside the safety of the Lewiston Clark State College Tennis Center.
The men’s team steamrolled LCSC 6-1 Saturday, while the women followed suit with a 6-1 victory of their own against Montana State Sunday.
The men’s first win of the season began with a clean doubles sweep, followed by an opening singles victory on court No. 4 by senior Lucas Coutinho. With an early 2-0 lead, junior Esteban Santibanez and senior Carlos Longhi Neto sealed the deal on courts No. 4 and No. 1, respectively.
Idaho’s only loss on the day came at the hands of Herman Yue, who defeated senior Peter Shin in a tightly contested three-set match.
The following day, the women’s team earned their first “W” of the year, also sweeping the doubles competition.
In singles, senior Mariana Petrei continued her domination from the No. 1 court, beating Laura Mary of Montana State 6-1, 6-1.
Senior Maria Tavares quickly added to Idaho’s lead on court No. 2 with a 6-1, 6-1 win, and sophomore Laura Spataro served as the closer, winning her match on court No. 3.
“The girls competed really well, and it allowed us to win the doubles point,” head coach Babar Akbar said in a news release. “That advantage gave us the start we needed for singles, and we kept that momentum going throughout the match. The win is a great start to the conference season for us.”
The women will take on Idaho State in Pocatello Saturday before heading on to Odgen, Utah, for a meeting with Weber State.
Meanwhile, the men will take on George Fox for a Valentine’s Day showdown in Newberg, Oregon, before traveling to Portland, Oregon for a doubleheader against Portland State and Portland.
Brandon Hill can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @brandonmtnhill