The Eastern Washington University men's tennis battled with Idaho for second place in the Big Sky standings and fell 6-1 to the Vandals. Eastern is now 6-3 in the conference and 11- 8 overall.
Head coach Steve Clark put it in a simple way after the loss, "We have work to do," he said.
Senior
Robert Dula was the only Eastern athlete to earn a win on the single side of the courts, defeating his opponent in three sets in the No. 1 spot. Dula lost his first set 4-6 but went on to win the next two sets by scores of 6-4 and 6-3.
The other athletes to earn a victory was in doubles were juniors
Flavien Raveau and
Scott Paz won in the No. 2 spot by a score of 6-3.
The next two matches were decided by three sets for the Eagles. Junior
Victor Pereira lost 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 to his opponent in the second spot. Junior
Scott Paz lost with two of the three sets being decided by tiebreakers with scores of 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5) and 6-1.
Junior
Flavien Raveau lost in the fourth spot by scores of 6-3 and 6-4. In the No. 5 spot was senior
Wacil Bendjelti who lost his first set 6-1, but battled in the second set by losing in a tiebreaker. Rounding off singles competition was junior
Vuk Vuckovic who lost in the No. 6 spot by scores of 6-2 and 6-3.
In doubles, Dula and Pereira played in the No. 1 spot and lost 6-4. In the third spot, junior
Ricardo Almeida and Bendjelti lost by 6-3.
The Eagles will continue competition this weekend by taking on Montana at home on Saturday, April 15 at 3 p.m. Matches are free and open to the general public.
Idaho 6, Eastern Washington 1
Singles competition
1. DULA, Robert (EWU) def. Kovacs, Mark (UI) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
2. Fonseca, Felipe (UI) def. PEREIRA, Victor (EWU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
3. Longhi Neto, Carlos (UI) def. PAZ, Scott (EWU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (5-7), 6-1
4. Santibanez, Estaban (UI) def. RAVEAU, Flavien (EWU) 6-3, 6-4
5. Coutinho,Lucas (UI) def. BENDJELTI, Wacil (EWU) 6-1, 7-6 (7-5)
6. Scarpelli, Guilherme (UI) def. VUCKOVIC, Vuk (EWU) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Kovacs, Mark/Longhi Neto, Carlos (UI) def. DULA, Robert/PEREIRA, Victor (EWU) 6-4
2. PAZ, Scott/RAVEAU, Flavien (EWU) def. Scarpelli, Guilherme/Coutinho,Lucas (UI) 6-3
3. Fonseca, Felipe/Santibanez, Estaban (UI) def. BENDJELTI, Wacil/ALMEIDA, Ricardo (EWU) 6-3
