Tennis lose on the road

Eastern battles Idaho State and Weber State

Photo by Anna Mills

Eduardo Bringold on the receiving end.

By Elohino Theodore, Senior Reporter

The EWU men’s tennis team lost to Idaho State University and Weber State University on the road to fall to a current record of 3-7 for the season.

Eastern lost to Idaho State, 4-3 overall on March 7.

“We should have done a lot better against Idaho State,” head coach Steve Clark told goeags.com. “We won right away at number six, and then at four, but at one Robert had a tough match that just didn’t go his way. We just have to learn from it and not let matches slip away.”

In the tennis doubles competition, No. 1 doubles duo sophomore Robert Dula and junior Eduardo Martinez were defeated in their doubles match, 6-2. No. 2 doubles duo freshman Vuk Vuckovic and junior Luke Thompson also fell in their doubles match, 6-2. No. 3 doubles duo junior Eduardo Bringold and sophomore Wacil Bendjelti won the only doubles match against the Bengals, winning 6-4.

In No. 1 singles, Dula fell Idaho State’s sophomore Daniel Loebel, 6-3, 6-1. In No. 2 singles, Vuckovic lost to Idaho State senior Krzysztof Stempien, 7-6 (6-4), 6-3. Martinez fell in his No. 3 singles match, 6-2, 6-1.

The Eagles managed to get victories for the next three singles matches. Thompson won his No. 4 singles match, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Bringold also was able to get a victory in the No. 5 singles match, 6-3, 6-4. In No. 6 singles, senior Stefan Farrar won, 6-1, 6-1.

Martinez talked about the challenges of playing on the road in Idaho and Utah.

“I think the factor that came in was the altitude, not much the playing back-to-back,” said Martinez. “We practice pretty hard so we’re in pretty good shape. I think just adjusting to the altitude was tough for us.”

On March 8, Eastern fell to Weber State, 6-1 overall.

“We also had a good fight against Weber State,” Clark told goeags.com. “I’m not big on moral victories, but the score overall doesn’t reflect the battles that went on.

The Wildcats defeated the Eagles two out of three in doubles matches. Dula and Martinez bounced back to win their No.1 doubles match, 7-5. Vuckovic and Thompson were defeated in their No. 2 doubles match, 6-4. Bringold and Bendjelti lost their No. 3 doubles match, 7-6.

Eastern won only one singles match. In the No. 1 singles match, Dula defeated Weber State’s junior Jakub Gewert, 4-6, 6-4 (11-9), 1-0. In No. 2 singles, Vuckovic lost, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. Martinez lost, 6-1, 6-7, 6-4 in No. 3 singles.

Thompson was also defeated in singles, losing 6-0, 6-1 in his No.4 singles match. In No. 5 singles, Bringold lost, 2-6, 6-0, 6-0. In the final singles match, Farrar lost 6-3, 6-3 in his No. 6 singles match.

Martinez said he is optimistic about the improvement of the team and he is aware of the team’s competitiveness.

“I think the whole team has been fighting and trying to get [wins],” said Martinez. “But, we still got some stuff to work on, but we’re getting there, little steps.”

Eastern will compete against Montana State University at home on March 13.