Men’s tennis gives ‘good effort’ in loss to ISU
It wasn’t a win, but Head Coach Chris Wright said he was happy with the effort.
In the third meeting of the season between the two, the Utah State men’s tennis team fell to Idaho State, 5-2, on Wednesday at the Sports Academy in North Logan.
“It was a good effort,” Wright said. “We fought hard all the way through, starting from doubles all the way through the singles. I liked the effort overall, we just came up a little bit short.”
The two teams had split their previous meetings with ISU (8-10) winning 5-2 in Pocatello and USU (7-12) winning 6-1 in Las Vegas.
As has been the norm when these two teams have met, the doubles point has been key. In the past seven matchups between the two, the team that won the doubles point went on to win the match, and this time was no different.
The Bengals were able to win tight matches at both No. 1 and No. 2 to pick up the point.
In the first match, with ISU’s Malcom Swan and Adam Krupp up 7-5 and serving, the Bengals scored a point to bring up match point. Visibly upset, Aggies Jordan Butler and Jonah Nelson took out their frustrations on the ball and their rackets. They were promptly assessed a point penalty by the judge, giving Idaho State the game and the match for an 8-5 win.
“We dropped a racket. I think that’s what it was,” Wright said. “We need to keep the racket in our hand so that’s not open for speculation.”
He said players often get frustrated, and while often they are not penalized, the Aggies just need to keep themselves from getting in that situation.
“They got us on that one,” Wright said. “It’s our own fault. We can’t leave that open.”
In the other matches, Brandon Butler and Jason Trask dropped a close one at No. 2, falling 8-6 to Hestian Stoica and Butch Stavridis. The only Aggie win came at No. 3 where Ryan Bair and Andrew Marsh picked up the win over Chris Sadek and Jemre Okoh, 8-4.
The win in doubles helped propel Marsh into singles, where he picked up one of the two Utah State singles wins on the day.
“I had a really bad week last week, so I was really pretty motivated to come out here and play better this week,” he said. “I was just really pumped up and came out and played a thousand times better today. Things were just so much better this week.”
Marsh defeated Okoh, 6-2, 6-5, at No. 5.
The other Aggie victory came at No. 2 where Nelson rebounded from a 4-6 loss in the first set to take the second 6-4 and win 11-9 in a tiebreaker.
“I’ve been playing better in singles the last couple of matches, so I felt confident going into it,” Nelson said. “I feel better right now on the court than I have all year. I’m happy about that.”
Of the other four singles matches, the only one to go three sets was Trask’s at No. 1. After dropping the first set to Swan, 6-1, Trask began the task of making a comeback. In the second set he was able to win three straight games and go up 3-1. He closed out the set with another three straight for a 6-1 victory.
In his comeback, Trask was able to keep his opponent back at the baseline and outlast him on points. But in the third, Swan adjusted and was able to take the set, 6-3.
“Anybody that hangs back, it doesn’t surprise me that’s how Jason won the second set,” Wright said. “That’s his game. If anybody wants to play him in that, good luck, because he’ll make his life miserable.”
Trask played Swan for the second time this season. In the first meeting, at Idaho State, Swan edged Trask 7-6, 6-4. With the victory, Swan, who Wright said is one of the best players in USU’s region, improved to 13-4.
In the other three matches, Stoica defeated Brandon, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3, Jordan fell to Krupp, 6-3, 6-1 at No. 4, and at No. 6, Pablo Garces topped Bair, 7-6, 7-5.
Despite the loss, the Utah State players are still confident about their play.
“The execution was definitely there,” Marsh said. “A win would have been nice, but we’re still all right.”
Wright said the team didn’t lack effort, and had just a few bad breaks at critical times.
“We can’t control some things that happen out there,” he said. “The ball bounces an inch wide on a big point, and sometimes luck doesn’t go your way, but the effort was really good.”
One difference from previous matches was that for only the third time this season, the Aggies played a home match outside. Although there was some adjustment, especially after practicing inside in the days before the match, Marsh said it was a good experience.
“It’s been really hard going back and forth, inside and outside,” he said. “It was just good to play outside today.”
The regular season is now complete and the Aggies will wait for their Big West Conference tournament seeding. Seedings will be announced Friday, and the tournament will begin Thursday.
-slbk5@cc.usu.edu