LEWISTON, Idaho—The Idaho men's tennis team scored a pair of 5-2 victories over Lewis Clark State College and Whitman College on Saturday. Idaho improves to 4-1 on the season.
Idaho opened both matches by winning the doubles points. The Vandal pair of Mark Kovacs and Lucas Coutinho went 2-0 on the day, playing in the No. 3 position. The duo played to 7-5 decisions in each of the matches, clinching the point for Idaho against LSCS.
Jackson Varney and Coutinho both played to 2-0 singles records on the day. Varney opened with a 6-0, 6-3 win over LCSC's Andres Bustani. He followed up with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Whitman's Robert Carter in No. 4 play. Coutinho played to a pair of three-set wins on the No. 5 court. He fought to a 3-6, 6-3, 10-5 win over LCSC's Jeff Su in the morning. He returned in the afternoon almost duplicating his morning results. Coutinho posted a 3-6, 6-4, 10-7 win over Whitman's Petar Jivkov.
“It was good to get the wins today,” head coach Abid Akbar commented. “We did not quite play to our potential in either match. We will need to up our play moving forward.”
Overall Idaho was 8-4 in singles play across the two matches. Odon Barta scored the clincher for Idaho in No. 1 singles against LSCS. Felipe Fonseca's 7-6 (4), 6-2 win over Chase Friedman clinched the Vandal win over Whitman.
Idaho 5, Lewis Clark State College 2
Feb 13, 2016 at Lewiston, Idaho
Singles competition
1. Barta, Odon (UI) def. Woldetsadik, Yonas (LCSC) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
2. Wacquez, Quentin (LCSC) def. Vasheshnikov, Artem (UI) 7-5, 6-7, 6-4
3. Varney, Jackson (UI) def. Bustani, Andres (LCSC) 6-0, 6-3
4. Kovacs, Mark (UI) def. D'Aboville, Alexandr (LCSC) 6-3, 6-3
5. Coutinho, Lucas (UI) def. Su, Jeff (LCSC) 3-6, 6-3, 10-5
6. Chin, Tony (LCSC) def. Shin, Peter (UI) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Vasheshnikov, Artem/Varney, Jackson (UI) def. Salmon, Ignacio/Wacquez, Quentin (LCSC) 6-2
2. Woldetsadik, Yonas/Su, Jeff (LCSC) def. Fonseca, Felipe/Barta, Odon (UI) 6-4
3. Kovacs, Mark/Coutinho, Lucas (UI) def. Phuntsok, Sonam/Chin, Tony (LCSC) 7-5
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,4,1,2,5,6)
Idaho 5, Whitman 2
Feb 13, 2016 at Lewiston, Idaho
Singles competition
1. Hewlin, Zach (WHIT) def. Barta, Odon (UI) 6-4, 6-4
2. Vasheshnikov, Artem (UI) def. Locklear, Phillip (WHIT) 6-3, 7-5
3. Fonseca, Felipe (UI) def. Friedman, Chase (WHIT) 7-6 (4), 6-2
4. Varney, Jackson (UI) def. Carter, Robert (WHIT) 6-3, 6-1
5. Coutinho, Lucas (UI) def. Jivkov, Petar (WHIT) 3-6, 6-4, 10-7
6. Rapoport, Adam (WHIT) def. Shin, Peter (UI) 6-3, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. Hewlin, Zach/Locklear, Phillip (WHIT) def. Vasheshnikov, Artem/Varney, Jackson (UI) 7-5
2. Fonseca, Felipe/Barta, Odon (UI) def. Friedman, Chase/Hoeger, Jake (WHIT) 6-1
3. Coutinho, Lucas/Kovacs, Mark (UI) def. Carter, Robert/Ho, Gary (WHIT) 7-5
Order of finish: Doubles (23,1); Singles (4,6,1,2,3,5)
