Hornets sting Aggies
Three-set matches were common for the Utah State University men’s tennis team over the weekend as the Aggies went 1-1, defeating the University of Nevada-Reno, 4-3, Friday, while dropping a 4-1 decision to Sacramento State University Saturday.
USU is now 5-11 on the season.
USU 4, Nevada 3
Heading into USU’s match against Nevada, Aggie Head Coach Chris Wright said he expected Friday’s match to be a “dogfight” between the two former conference rivals.
He was right.
For the fifth time this season – all of which have been Aggie victories – USU was able to capture the doubles point en route to a 4-3 victory over the Wolf Pack at the Sports Academy and Racquet Club.
“You never quite know where the points are going to come from, so I’m always trying to stress to [the players] that all we really can control is our effort,” Wright said. “If we all go out there and give maximum effort, we have a chance to pull out a match like this, and we did that.”
Utah State got off on the right foot, taking a 1-0 lead by winning two of the three doubles matches. Aggies Andy Madersbacher and Clayton Thomas prevailed over the Wolf Pack tandem of Chad Stoloff and Jason Yelley in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (7-1). Jason Trask and Steve Peterson notched USU’s other doubles victory, besting Brett Bitzer and Ivan Anderson, 8-3.
In the Madersbacher/ Thomas match, the Aggie tandem found themselves a match point down at 7-6 (40-30). However, being in this precarious situation is something Madersbacher and Thomas thrive on, Wright said.
“Clayton and Andy have a knack for making things turn out,” he said. “The doubles point was huge.”
Jordan Butler and Sam Harris were defeated by McClure Wallace and Rudi Leushner, 8-5, in the other doubles match.
In singles play, Butler and Trask recorded straight-set victories with Butler beating Wallace, 6-4, 6-4, and Trask trouncing Yelley, 6-0, 6-0, to give USU a 3-0 lead.
Nevada would respond.
Victories by Anderson (6-2, 6-1) and Leushner (7-6, 6-3) over Harris and Thomas, respectively, cut the Wolf Pack deficit to 3-2.
“Clayton played a really solid match, but the [other] guy looked like he might be [Nevada’s] best player,” Wright said. “He sure played great today against Clayton.”
Up 3-2 with two matches still in progress, the Aggies needed to win one of them to secure the victory. With Madersbacher’s match against Stoloff going to a third set, Wright said he told his No. 1 singles player
his match could be the decisive match.
Madersbacher took it to heart, outlasting Stoloff, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, to propel the Aggies to the win.
“I walked up [to him] and said, ‘Andy, I don’t know what the situation is in the bubble, but if you win this match, it seals it [the victory],” Wright said. “He made some really good adjustments to seal the win for us.”
In USU’s other singles match, Peterson dropped a hard-fought, 7-6, 0-6, 6-4 loss to Bitzer.
Sacramento State 4, USU 1 Facing the defending champions from the Big Sky Conference, USU was up to the challenge, taking every one of its matches with Sacramento State to a third and decisive set.
Unfortunately for the Aggies, the Hornets were able to win four of those matches en route to a 4-1 defeat of USU Saturday at the Sports Academy and Racquet Club.
Saturday’s match was shortened to four singles and one doubles match so the Hornets could catch their flight to Sacramento.
“We went out there and competed great, and sometimes it’s just a matter of a couple of points not going your way,” Wright said. “I’m proud of our guys the way they went out there and competed.”
Despite the loss, Wright said he was happy to play well against a team he feels is the odds-on favorite to win the Big Sky again this year.
“They will win it [the Big Sky]; I’ll go out on a limb and say that they’ll win it again this year,” he said. “Credit goes to Sacramento State. They played well and came up with some big points.”
Two Aggies who were able to capitalize in the third set were the doubles tandem of Jordan Butler and Steve Peterson. Butler and Peterson rebounded from a tough second set to defeat Matt Jones and Fabio Jesus, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.
“I’ve lost, I think, three three-setters in a row, and just to get this one today was big for my confidence,” Peterson said.
When asked what was the deciding factor in the match, Peterson said Butler was able to cut off Jones and Jesus’s ability to hit a cross-court passing shot by poaching at the net.
“Jordan was poaching really well,” he said. “That was the key was his poaching.”
In singles play, Sherif Zahar beat Andy Madersbacher, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, Nick Sheehan was victorious over Clayton Thomas, 7-6, 6-7, 10-3, Ali Abbou outlasted Jason Trask, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, and Josh Price squeaked by Sam Harris, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5.
Thomas and Sheehan were forced to play a super tiebreaker for the third set – first one to 10 points, win by two – to ensure the Hornets caught their flight.
While Wright was pleased with all of the players, he said he was especially happy with the play of Harris. Harris was a game away (5-4 in the third set) from winning his match against a player much tougher than the one he played on Friday, Wright said.
“He played against a kid who was a ton better than the kid he lost to yesterday, and almost had it [the match],” Wright said.
Although disappointed over his loss, Trask said he feels the team picked up some valuable momentum for future matches.
“I think overall, talking about the whole team, everyone played solid,” he said.