MSU Clinches Big Sky Tennis Tourney Spot with Win Over Weber

Sunday, April 7

Bozeman, MT

Montana State University

WEBER STATE

Prithiv Sivasubramaniam earned a key singles win Sunday

Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson

MSU Clinches Big Sky Tennis Tourney Spot with Win Over Weber

4/7/2013 8:57:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Bobcats race to 5-2 victory

By: Bill Lamberty

The last nine months came full circle for Jared Burnham Sunday, when Montana State's first-year head coach led the Bobcats to a 5-2 win over Weber State, the team he coached for the previous eight seasons, in Bozeman. The victory clinched a spot in the Big Sky Tourney for the Cats.

While some attention was focused on Burnham's matchup with his former team, the long-time Big Sky coach's focus was completely on Sunday's win. “The guys fought hard,” he said, “and it was a good team win. It's a good accomplishment for this team to get back to the Big Sky Tournament, but we're concentrating on the next match in front of us.”

Sunday's match came against a talented Weber State team, which got the jump on MSU by winning the first doubles match, an 8-5 victory at No. 2 doubles. But Niklas Brandes and Diego Campos posted a win at No. 1 and Harry James and Kenny Dodd won at No. 3 to give the Bobcats the doubles point.

The Wildcats also took the first singles match, a 6-1, 6-4 win by Oliver Good over Markus Schleuter, but again the Bobcats bounced back. Diego Campos capped a spectacular weekend with a straight-set win at No. 4 singles, while Javier Martin-Morillas' win at No. 2 gave MSU a 3-1 lead. After another Wildcat win (Jakub Gewert topped Niklas Brandes at No. 1), Prithiv Sibasubramaniam clinched the win with a hard-fought 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 victory at No. 5 singles, and Harry James topped off the match with a win at No. 6.

“Diego Campos really played well today,” Burnham said. “He gave us a good boost. Harry James and Kenny Dodd did a great job in doubles. They got us a big win.”

Campos didn't drop a set all weekend, winning two straight-set matches in singles competition and teaming with Niklas Brandes to win both his doubles matches. His 11 victories at No. 4 leads all league players at that ladder spot, and his 13 wins overall is among the Big Sky's best.

Montana State closes the regular season next week, hosting rival Montana on Saturday at 1 pm and league-leading Idaho State Saturday at 10 am for Senior Recognition Day.