Bobcats Answer Challenge to Top Air Force in Men's Tennis Season Opener

BOZEMAN, Montana – January 14, 2021 – Montana State men's tennis coach Trey Morris had a simple message for his team after it dropped the doubles point to Air Force in the Bobcats' season opening match on Friday.

"I challenged our guys to show me what this season is going to be like," Morris said. "Losing the doubles point can take the breath out your lungs a little bit. What I saw was six guys that competed their hearts out and played very hard for the Blue and Gold."

The result was five singles wins in six matches for a 5-2 team victory over Air Force at the Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center. "It was a very solid win," Morris said.

Jamieson Nathan ignited the comeback with a 7-5, 6-0 win at No. 3 singles, and after a Falcons win at the fourth ladder spot Matej Panik won at No. 1 and Daan Van Dijk staged a second-set comeback to win at No. 2 to give the Cats a 3-2 lead.

After winning the first set 7-6 Van Dijk trailed 4-3 in the second set. After a service break he held serve to go up 5-4 then broke serve again for the win.

Van Dijk's comeback started in unusual fashion. "I actually felt my lower back tighten up a little bit," he said. "At first I was a little nervous but when that happened I relaxed and thought, 'Now I can play more freely.' I just started playing better, making more balls, I didn't want to over-hit. At the beginning of the second set I had too many unforced errors, but then I relaxed and started playing better."

Needing one more singles win to clinch the team victory, Joaquin Espinoza captured a 6-4, 6-4 win at the sixth ladder spot in a contest featuring lengthy rallies. "They were so long," Espinoza said, noting that AFA's Kyle Garner began "hitting everything to my backhand. I started playing to his forehand to change the rhythm and that started working."

Nejc Sitar closed the match with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 triumph at the fifth ladder spot. The Bobcats return to action next weekend, playing at Gonzaga and Whitworth on Saturday and at Eastern Washington on Sunday.

Montana State 5, Air Force 2
January 14, 2022 at Bozeman, Montana (Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center)

Singles competition
1. PANIK, Matej (MSU) def. BAYLON, Robert (AFA) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
2. VAN DIJK, Daan (MSU) def. MASCAGNI, Jonathan (AFA) 7-6 (7-6), 6-4
3. NATHAN, Jamieson (MSU) def. WALDMAN, Justin (AFA) 7-5, 6-0
4. VROMAN, Nick (AFA) def. BUCKLAND, Brad (MSU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-0
5. SITAR, Nejc (MSU) def. KERSETN, Arjun (AFA) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
6. ESPINOZA, Joaquin (MSU) def. GARNER, Kyle (AFA) 6-4, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. AZUMA, Jordan/BAYLON, Robert (AFA) def. VAN DIJK, Daan/PANIK, Matej (MSU) 6-3
2. KERSETN, Arjun/MASCAGNI, Jonathan (AFA) def. ZELVER, Marcos/SITAR, Nejc (MSU) 6-3
3. NATHAN, Jamieson/BUCKLAND, Brad (MSU) def. VROMAN, Nick/WALDMAN, Justin (AFA) 6-4

Air Force 0-1, Montana State 1-0
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (3,1,4,2,6,5)

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Players Mentioned

Joaquin Espinoza

Jamieson Nathan

Matej Panik

Nejc Sitar

Daan Van Dijk

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