Bobcats Drop 4-3 Men's Tennis Match to Idaho Sunday

Sunday, April 11

2 pm

Montana State University

Idaho

Photo by: Andrew Pedersen

4/11/2021 7:22:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

Bobcats comeback attempt thwarted in day's final match

By: Bill Lamberty

BOZEMAN, Montana – Idaho's Vivek Ramesh won 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 at No. 5 singles against Montana State's Jacob Huppin to seal his team's 4-3 Big Sky Conference men's tennis victory against the Bobcats Sunday in Bozeman.

Idaho took the doubles point, but Montana State rebounded to take a 2-1 lead with singles wins by a pair of freshmen. Daan Van Dijk won 6-1, 6-4 at No. 2 and in quick succession Jakob Mosvold landed a 6-4, 6-4 victory at No. 4. Earlier, Mosvold teamed with Manuel Monteiro for a 6-4 win at No. 2 doubles. Idaho grabbed victories at No. 1 singles, a 7-6, 6-3 win by Francisco Bascon over MSU's Joaquin Espinoza, and No. 3, where Bruno Casino topped Brad Buckland 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.

With the Bobcats trailing 3-2, sophomore Marcos Zelver returned for his first match after an injury shelved him for nearly a month to play Idaho's Alex Asenov at No. 6 singles. Tied at 3-3 in the first set, Zelver broke serve to lead 4-3, and that opened the floodgates. He won eight of the next nine games to capture a 6-4, 6-0 victory.

"To be honest I was kind of tight starting the match, so I got that break and I kind of loosened up and just started trusting my shots," he said. "The return really came through for me at that point, I started making a lot of returns after that. I felt really good (in the second set). I didn't have any pain and I was serving really confidently. It was good to be back."

After the team's first home match since February 27, Montana State stands 3-8 overall, 0-2 in Big Sky action. Idaho is 6-5, 2-1. The Cats return to action Friday, hosting Eastern Washington.

Idaho 4, Montana State 3
April 11, 2021 at Bozeman, Montana (Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center)

Singles competition
1. Francisco Bascon (UI) def. ESPINOZA, Joaquin (MSU) 7-6, 6-3
2. VAN DIJK, Daan (MSU) def. Matteo Masala (UI) 6-1, 6-4
3. Bruno Casino (UI) def. BUCKLAND, Brad (MSU) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3
4. MOSVOLD, Jakob (MSU) def. Alejandro Salvador (UI) 6-4, 6-4
5. Vivek Ramesh (UI) def. HUPPIN, Jacob (MSU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
6. ZELVER, Marcos (MSU) def. Alex Asenov (UI) 6-4, 6-0

Doubles competition
1. Francisco Bascon/Bruno Casino (UI) def. ESPINOZA, Joaquin/BUCKLAND, Brad (MSU) 6-3
2. MONTEIRO, Manuel/MOSVOLD, Jakob (MSU) def. Alex Asenov/Matteo Masala (UI) 6-4
3. Alejandro Salvador/Adam Taylor (UI) def. STONER, Chase/VAN DIJK, Daan (MSU) 6-3

Records: Idaho 6-5/2-1 Big Sky, Montana State 3-8/0-2 Big Sky
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (2,4,1,3,6,5)
Time-3:55

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