Friday, January 12
2:45 pm
Montana State University
7
vs
0
UC Riverside
Andre Stewart
Photo by: Jack Power
Bobcat Men's Tennis Team Sweeps UC Riverside to Open 2024 Season
1/12/2024 8:58:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Newcomer Andre Stewart clinches win
BOZEMAN, Montana – The turnaround from Andre Stewart's arrival in Bozeman to his Sunday's Montana State men's tennis season opener was quick. And it was successful.
Stewart won his singles match 7-6 (7-5 in the tie-breaker), 6-3 to clinch the Bobcats' 7-0 victory over UC Riverside in Bozeman's Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center. The win was each team's season opener.
A freshman from Puarteira, Portugal, Stewart's first college match proved memorable. "It's my first college match ever so I have nothing to compare it to," he said. "I just got here five days ago so it was a good experience, winning my first match."
Montana State's lineup consisted of four veterans and three newcomers. Like Stewart, freshman Kanika Jayathilake arrived last week. Frosh Dario Ciobotaru joined the team in August. The Cats swept the doubles point with three teams consisting of at least one newcomer. Andras Necz and Max Relic led things off with a win at No. 1 doubles, but Necz was injured and Adrian Daniel slid into the singles lineup.
"It was a good start," said Bobcat head coach Rob Bareford. "We had some unexpected stuff right before the match, and Andras was dealing with an injury, so everybody had to step up, including some people playing who didn't expect to play."
Relic opened singles play by cruising to a 6-2, 6-1 win. Senior Jacob Huppin, like Relic one of the team's veterans, earned a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 4, and then Stewart sealed MSU's team win with his victory at No. 3.
"I wasn't expecting it to be an easy match," he said, "especially being my first college match. I was a bit tight, a bit nervous. Overall it was a tight game."
In addition to Friday serving as Stewart's college debut – "I knew it was going to be much noisier, a different atmosphere to play in, much more fun" – it was also his first real foray into doubles play. He and Huppin won at the second ladder spot. "I didn't play much doubles at all back home, I usually just played singles, so I have nothing to compare it to. So for me it was easy. My partner was great, we won the match, and I'm happy to win both matches today."
Stewart's performance pleased Bareford. "He's still getting adjusted, but it was a great win for him. He's a great player and I'm looking forward to developing him."
With the team win in the bag, three Bobcats finished the match with impressive efforts. Dario Ciobotaru came from behind for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 2, Daniel took a 7-5, 6-4 victory at No. 6 after sliding into the singles competition as a late addition, and the Jayathilake took a 6-4, 5-7, 10-7 win at No. 5. He trailed 5-1 in the third set super-tiebreaker before capturing seven straight points to take control.
Montana State jumps back into action Sunday, hosting Seattle at 1 pm in the Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center. The MSU women's team plays Seattle at 9 am.
DUAL SCORING
MATCH NOTES
Order of finish:
Singles -- 1 4 3 2 6 5 ; Doubles -- 3 2 1
Start Time:2:47 AM
Duration:3:47
Attendance:50
Stewart won his singles match 7-6 (7-5 in the tie-breaker), 6-3 to clinch the Bobcats' 7-0 victory over UC Riverside in Bozeman's Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center. The win was each team's season opener.
A freshman from Puarteira, Portugal, Stewart's first college match proved memorable. "It's my first college match ever so I have nothing to compare it to," he said. "I just got here five days ago so it was a good experience, winning my first match."
Montana State's lineup consisted of four veterans and three newcomers. Like Stewart, freshman Kanika Jayathilake arrived last week. Frosh Dario Ciobotaru joined the team in August. The Cats swept the doubles point with three teams consisting of at least one newcomer. Andras Necz and Max Relic led things off with a win at No. 1 doubles, but Necz was injured and Adrian Daniel slid into the singles lineup.
"It was a good start," said Bobcat head coach Rob Bareford. "We had some unexpected stuff right before the match, and Andras was dealing with an injury, so everybody had to step up, including some people playing who didn't expect to play."
Relic opened singles play by cruising to a 6-2, 6-1 win. Senior Jacob Huppin, like Relic one of the team's veterans, earned a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 4, and then Stewart sealed MSU's team win with his victory at No. 3.
"I wasn't expecting it to be an easy match," he said, "especially being my first college match. I was a bit tight, a bit nervous. Overall it was a tight game."
In addition to Friday serving as Stewart's college debut – "I knew it was going to be much noisier, a different atmosphere to play in, much more fun" – it was also his first real foray into doubles play. He and Huppin won at the second ladder spot. "I didn't play much doubles at all back home, I usually just played singles, so I have nothing to compare it to. So for me it was easy. My partner was great, we won the match, and I'm happy to win both matches today."
Stewart's performance pleased Bareford. "He's still getting adjusted, but it was a great win for him. He's a great player and I'm looking forward to developing him."
With the team win in the bag, three Bobcats finished the match with impressive efforts. Dario Ciobotaru came from behind for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 2, Daniel took a 7-5, 6-4 victory at No. 6 after sliding into the singles competition as a late addition, and the Jayathilake took a 6-4, 5-7, 10-7 win at No. 5. He trailed 5-1 in the third set super-tiebreaker before capturing seven straight points to take control.
Montana State jumps back into action Sunday, hosting Seattle at 1 pm in the Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center. The MSU women's team plays Seattle at 9 am.
| # | DOUBLES DRAWS | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andras Necz and Max Relic (MSU) def. Justin Lamy and Joshua Roth (UCR) |
6-4 | |
| 2 | Jacob Huppin and Andre Stewart (MSU) def. Hugo DeGrande and Lu Ibarrondo Suarez (UCR) |
6-3 | |
| 3 | Dario Ciobotaru and Kanika Jayathilake (MSU) def. Lucas Mszyca and Aarav Sane (UCR) |
6-1 |
| # | SINGLES DRAWS | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Relic (MSU) def. Joshua Roth (UCR) | 6-2 | 6-1 | |
| 2 | Dario Ciobotaru (MSU) def. Justin Lamy (UCR) | 4-6 | 6-1 | 6-3 |
| 3 | Andre Stewart (MSU) def. Hugo DeGrande (UCR) | 7-6 (7-5) | 6-3 | |
| 4 | Jacob Huppin (MSU) def. Lu Ibarrondo Suarez (UCR) | 6-3 | 6-3 | |
| 5 | Kanika Jayathilake (MSU) def. Aarav Sane (UCR) | 6-4 | 5-7 | 10-7 |
| 6 | Adrian Daniel (MSU) def. Lucas Mszyca (UCR) | 7-5 | 6-4 |
DUAL SCORING
| TM | D1 | D2 | D3 | S1 | S2 | S3 | S4 | S5 | S6 | TOT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSU | X | X | X | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| UCR | 0 |
MATCH NOTES
Order of finish:
Singles -- 1 4 3 2 6 5 ; Doubles -- 3 2 1
Start Time:2:47 AM
Duration:3:47
Attendance:50
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
1
Hugo DeGrande/ Lu Ibarrondo Suarez [UCR]
3
6
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2,1
#1 Singles Match
12
Joshua Roth / 0 [UCR]
21
66
#2 Singles Match
123
Justin Lamy / 0 [UCR]
613
466
#3 Singles Match
12
Hugo DeGrande / 0 [UCR]
63
76
#4 Singles Match
12
Lu Ibarrondo Suarez / 0 [UCR]
33
66
#5 Singles Match
123
Aarav Sane / 0 [UCR]
477
6510
#6 Singles Match
12
Lucas Mszyca / 0 [UCR]
54
76
Order of Finish:
1,4,3,2,6,5
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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