Box Score POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State men's tennis team wrapped up their 11-match road trip this weekend, taking on rivals, the Idaho Vandals, Lewis-Clark State College, and Seattle U.
Beginning in the doubles matches in Bengals' match vs Idaho, the first duo for ISU, playing in the #2 doubles spot, was Wikus Robbertse and Andreas Kramer. The Bengal tandem would defeat Masala/Lai with ease, 6-1. The second Bengals grouping in doubles was Valentino De Pellegrin and Victor Sklenka, who could not get it done, falling to Asenov/Medica, 4-6, leaving the doubles point up to Ege Cankus and Hiroki Fujita in the #3 doubles match. The boys could not come through however, as they would lose 6-7 (5-7) to Idaho's Duron/Salvador, giving UI the team doubles point.
Heading into singles play down 0-1 ISU knew they needed to step up if they wanted to win. The first three singles players stepped up big time. Valentino De Pellegrin, Victor Sklenka, and Andreas Kramer would all sweep their matchups in the #1, #2, and #3 singles matches, getting Idaho State on the verge of victory, now up 3-1 in the team score. In the #4 singles match Patrick Kristensen would fall to M. Duron in three sets, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6(7-4), 2-6. But Hiroki Fujita would clutch up for the Bengals, as he would take down A. Salvador in straight sets 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 to clinch the victory for ISU. Wikus Robbertse would round out singles play for Idaho State, as he would down A. Asenov in the #6 singles match 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, giving Idaho State a 5-2 win over rivals, Idaho.
The next match up was the following day for ISU, taking on Lewis-Clark State College.
In the doubles matches vs the Warriors the first match to finish was the #1 doubles match where Victor Sklenka and Valentino De Pellegrin downed the LCSC duo of Kikuchi/Rusnak 6-1. The second match to wrap up was the #2 doubles where Andreas Kramer and Wikus Robbertse would defeat the Warrior pairing of Rollin/Swing 6-1. With the doubles point in hand, the final duo playing for the Orange & Black was Patrick Kristensen and Ege Cankus who would also take the win in the #3 doubles game, 7-6 (7-3).
Idaho State looked to continue off the hot start, and they would do just that, as each Bengal playing would go on to sweep their Warrior opponents. Valentino De Pellegrin, Victor Sklenka, Andreas Kramer, Hiroki Fujita, Wikkus Robbertse, and Ege Cankus would all bring home the wins in their matchups. Giving the Bengals the sweep and the victory, 7-0.
In their final match of the weekend the Bengals would take on Seattle U. The Idaho State duo of Valentino De Pellegrin and Victor Sklenka would down their Redhawk opponents 6-3 in the #1 singles match, and Wikus Robbertse and Andreas Kramer would follow them up in the #2 singles match with a 6-4 win to clinch the doubles point for ISU.
In the singles matches Idaho State would pick up where they left off in doubles play, as each Bengal in singles would win in straight sets versus their opponent. Valentino De Pellegrin would win 6-2, 6-1 in the #1 singles match, Andreas Kramer would take the win 6-2, 6-2 in the #3 singles match, and Patrick Kristensen would get the win in the #4 singles spot 6-2, 6-2, giving the Bengals the match clinching win, as they would take home victory, 4-0
"Our guys showed their ability to adapt quickly to different conditions and across the board, said head coach, Oliver Good, "we had great performances each day. Now we will rest up, and then look forward to getting into more conference play next week."
The Bengals will play their postponed match against Sacramento State from earlier this month next week in Sacramento, California on Wednesday, March 20th at 11 AM MT.