Idaho holds off Montana 4-2

Thursday, April 17

Missoula, Mont.

4:00 PM

Montana

Idaho

4/17/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis

April 17, 2014

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The Montana Grizzlies men's tennis team (9-11, 7-1 BSC) lost to Idaho 4-2 at the Peak Racquet Club in Missoula on Thursday evening.

The duel lasted nearly five hours, as four singles matches went to three sets.

"I'm really happy with our effort all around," Head coach Kris Nord said. "We got to get some guys in there that haven't been able to play, too."

Idaho (8-13, 2-1 WAC) began the evening by sweeping all three doubles matches. The closest match was Cristobal Ramos Salazar and Jose Bendeck's 7-6 (7-4) win over Semion Branzburg and Ethan Vaughn.

"We had some different doubles matchups, but the guys came out and played well," Nord said. "Idaho came out and played really good doubles off the bat."

In singles play, Ethan Vaughn and Mikolaj Caruk both rested. Caruk normally plays No. 1 singles, while Vaughn usually holds down the No. 5 spot. Andrew Warren moved up to play at

No. 1, losing in a tight three set match to Jose Bendeck.

"I'm really happy with our singles effort," Nord said. "If Andrew pulls off his match, and a few things went different in Semion's match, we're right there."

Tomasz Soltyka defeated Cristobal Ramos Salazar in straight sets at No. 3 singles, increasing his team-high singles winning streak to five matches. Peter Mimnagh-Fleming, who usually plays at No. 6, stepped in at No. 4 and won in three sets against Odon Barta.

"Peter's match -- that was really good for his confidence," Nord said. "The kid he was playing was really hot or cold. He was either hitting winners or making mistakes. It's a tough match to keep hanging in there and he did a really good job of fighting back and not giving up."

Branzburg played a three and a half hour long singles match at No. 2, narrowly losing in a third set tiebreaker 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3). Zach Drost lost at No. 5 singles, falling to 1-6 in singles this spring. Freshman Alex Braun played for the first time in 2014, but the match was abandoned in the second set so Idaho could hit the road.

"I think this match was more effective than a Thursday practice," Nord added. "It will get us ready to play, and a couple guys got to rest. Now we gear up for Eastern."

The Griz host Eastern Washington outside on campus on Saturday at noon.

Idaho 4, Montana 2
Thursday, April 17 2014 at Missoula, Mont. (Peak Racquet Club)

Doubles results
No. 1 Cristobal Ramos Salazar/Jose Bendeck (IDAHO) def. Semion Branzburg/Ethan Vaughn (UM) 7-6 (7-4)
No. 2 Andrew Zedde/Odon Barta (IDAHO) def. Peter Mimnagh-Fleming/Tomasz Soltyka (UM) 8-4
No. 3 Artemiy Nikitin/Cesar Torres (IDAHO) def. Zach Drost/Eric Braun (UM) 8-4

Singles results
No. 1 Jose Bendeck (IDAHO) def. Andrew Warren (UM) 7-6 (7-3), 1-6, 6-3
No. 2 Artemiy Nikitin (IDAHO) def. Semion Branzburg (UM) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3)
No. 3 Tomasz Soltyka (UM) def. Cristobal Ramos Salazar (IDAHO) 6-1, 7-6 (8-6)
No. 4 Peter Mimnagh-Fleming (UM) def. Odon Barta (IDAHO) 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
No. 5 Cesar Torres (IDAHO) def. Zach Drost (UM) 7-5, 6-2
No. 6 Andrew Zedde (IDAHO) def. Alex Braun (UM) 5-7, (match abandoned)