LAS VEGAS, Nev. – No. 46 Wichita State defeated Idaho by a score of 4-3 on Monday afternoon in what was a neutral site thriller. With the win, the Shockers now move to 12-3 on the year while riding a six dual-match winning streak.
The 46th ranked Shockers used a sweep in doubles by the teams of No. 25 Tomislav Gregurovic/Tin Ostojic (by a 6-2 victory) and Ilija Cuic/Guillermo de Vilchez (a 6-3 victory) to take the doubles point, and the 1-0 lead heading into singles play.
As Idaho took three singles matches at No. 2, No. 3, and No. 5 singles, No. 46 Wichita State earned victories at No. 4 singles by de Vilchez, and No. 6 singles by Miroslav Herzan. By the end of this portion of singles play, the score was tied at 3-3, with the deciding match played at No. 1 singles between No. 46 Ostojic and Odon Barta.
No. 46 Ostojic lost the first set to Barta, 6-7(8). However, No. 46 Ostojic was able to secure wins in both the second in third set by scores of 7-5, 7-5, giving the Shockers the 4-3 win, and a six dual-match winning streak.
Shocker men's head tennis coach Brad Louderback felt that it was a very competitive all-around match.
“Both teams fought extremely hard,” Louderback said. “It was a very strong college match. It came down to No. 1 singles with Ostojic, and he closed out the win 7-5 in the third with a very strong service game at the end. Ostojic has been in this position before, and you could see it. He did an outstanding job.
“This is the first close match we've had. We've been taking care of our other matches in strong fashion, but we needed one of these. Hopefully this helps us get familiar with playing in close matches. This was a good win, and either team could have won. We played better during doubles today than we did yesterday. We'll have tomorrow off, and will face a tough test in UNLV on Wednesday.”
No. 46 Wichita State will face UNLV on Wednesday at 4 p.m. in Las Vegas.
-WICHITA STATE-
No. 46 Wichita State 4, Idaho 3
March 16, 2015—Las Vegas, Nevada
Singles
1. #46 Tin Ostojic(W) (WSU) vs. Odon Barta(L): 6-7(8), 7-5, 7-5
2. Tomislav Gregurovic(L) (WSU) vs. Felipe Fonseca(W) (Idaho): 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-7(5)
3. Ilija Cuic(L) (WSU) vs. Cristobal Ramos(W) (Idaho): 4-6, 4-6
4. Guillermo de Vilchez(W) (WSU) vs. Jackson Varney(L) (Idaho): 6-4, 6-2
5. Jocelyn Devilliers(L) (WSU) vs. Mark Kovacs(W) (Idaho): 6-7(8), 7-6(2), 5-7
6. Miroslav Herzan (W) (WSU) vs. Alberto Sanz (L) (Idaho): 7-6(2), 6-1
Doubles
1. #25 Tomislav Gregurovic/Tin Ostojic (W) (WSU) vs. Cristobal Ramos/ Jackson Varney: 6-2
2. Ilija Cuic/Guillermo de Vilchez (W) (WSU) vs. Felipe Fonseca/Odon Barta (L) (Idaho): 6-3
3. Jocelyn Devilliers/Miroslav Herzan (WSU) vs. Mark Kovacs/Alberto Sanz: Unfinished
