LEWISTON, ID- The Idaho State men's tennis team was on the road for their final two matches of the regular season as they traveled to Cheney, Washington where they took down the Eastern Washington Eagles 6-1 on Friday morning, and then Lewiston, Idaho for their match with Lewis-Clark State College Saturday afternoon where they went on to win 6-1. After the 2-0 weekend the Bengals will move to 9-13 on the season and 2-5 in conference play, currently sitting on the verge of the playoff seeding in 6th place just .5 game above Portland State.
In the Bengals match against Eastern Washington Friday morning, the Bengals came out firing to start, taking the doubles matches point behind stellar performances from every member of the squad. In the No. 1 doubles match the team of Andreas Kramer and Valentino De Pellegrin downed their matchup 6-4, and the No. 3 doubles team of Patrick Kristensen and Wikus Robbertse handled their Eagle matchups 6-2. In the No. 2 doubles match Hiroki Fujita and Victor Sklenka were leading 5-3 when the match was called due to the Bengals clinching the doubles matches point. The Bengals entered the singles matches leading 1-0 and looked to finish the Eagles off quickly. Victor Sklenka got the Bengals going as he cruised to a straight set victory in the No. 4 singles match, leading to Andreas Kramer and Valentino De Pellegrin both winning in straight sets in the No. 3 and No. 1 singles matches. In the No. 2 singles match Patrick Kristensen battled till the very end and managed to come out victorious in three sets 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Wikus Robbertse could not come through in the No. 5 singles match as he fell in straight sets, while Hiroki Fujita closed it out for Idaho State, winning in a third-set super tiebreaker 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 and the Bengals defeated the Eagles 6-1 and earned their much needed second conference win on the season.
Traveling to Lewiston, Idaho the following day, the Bengals sought to close out the regular season on a high note. Starting off in the doubles matches the Bengals came out hot, as they swept the doubles matches behind incredible play, once again, from every team member. In the No. 1 doubles match Andreas Kramer and Valentino De Pellegrin won 6-4, in the No. 2 doubles match Hiroki Fujita and Victor Sklenka won 6-4 as well, and in the No. 3 doubles match Wikus Robbertse and Patrick Kristensen downed their Warrior opponents handily, 6-1. Heading into the singles matches up 1-0 the Bengals were looking to hold strong and keep fighting. Idaho State battled and then some, winning all but the No. 2 singles match in straight sets. Valentino De Pellegrin won in the No. 1 singles match 6-4, 6-2, Victor Sklenka won the No. 3 singles match 6-2, 6-4, Andreas Kramer won the No. 4 singles match 6-1, 6-0, Wikus Robbertse won the No. 5 singles match 6-2, 6-2, and Hiroki Fujita closed it out for the Bengals winning in the No. 6 singles match 6-3, 6-1.
The Bengals will shift their focus to the Big Sky Conference tournament in Phoenix, Arizona on April 27th – 29th where they hope to be the 5th or 6th seed depending on how Montana and Portland State finish out their seasons.
