BOISE, ID- The Bengals men's tennis team was back on the road this Thursday as they traveled to Boise to take on the Boise State Broncos and the University of San Francisco Dons. Idaho State took on Boise State to begin the day where they fell just short 4-2. Immediately following the match Idaho State bounced back against the University of San Francisco, as they were able to defeat the Dons 4-2. After the doubleheader the Bengals will move to 6-8 on the season and remain 1-1 in conference play.
In the Bengals match against Boise State, Idaho State came out firing as they locked up the doubles matches point behind the No. 2 doubles team of Patrick Kristensen and Wikus Robbertse winning 6-4 and the No. 3 doubles team of Hiroki Fujita and Victor Sklenka downing their Bronco opponents 6-3. The Bengals went into the singles matches leading 1-0, however, to begin the singles matches we saw Valentino De Pellegrin and Andreas Kramer fall in the No. 2 and No. 3 singles matches in straight sets. Patrick Kristensen in the No. 1 singles match knew he needed the team point and came through, defeating his matchup 6-3, 6-4, and tying the team score at 2 points apiece. The Bengals searched for another singles win, but did not find any as Wikus Robbertse and Hiroki Fujita fell in straight sets in the No. 4 and No. 6 singles matches and the Bengals lost the match as the Broncos cinched 4-2.
In their second match of the day the Bengals squared off with the University of San Francisco. Much like the previous match the Bengals got off to a hot start, winning the doubles matches point as the same duos of Patrick Kristensen and Wikus Robbertse in the No. 2 doubles match won 6-4 and the No. 3 doubles team of Hiroki Fujita and Victor won 6-3. The Bengals started off the singles matches behind a loss at the No. 1 singles match from Patrick Kristensen, but teammate Valentino De Pellegrin had his back as he went on a tear in the No. 2 singles match, winning the match in a three-set shootout 7-6, 6-7, and 6-3. In the No. 3 singles match Andreas Kramer was unable to get it done as he fell in three sets 5-7, 6-3, 7-6. As the match was tied up at 2 team points apiece Wikus Robbertse put the team on his back as he cruised to a straight set victory in the No. 4 singles match. With the match on the line Ege Cankus stepped up in a huge way for the Bengals as he brought home the match clinching win in the No. 5 singles match in a three-set victory by a score of 6-4, 1-6, 7-5, and the Bengals defeated the Dons 4-2.
The Bengals will be will be back on the road as they travel to Logan, Utah to take on the Utah State Aggies next Wednesday March 22nd.
