MISSOULA, Mont.—Idaho men's tennis suffered its first conference loss of the season on Thursday. The Vandals fell 5-2 to Montana, playing on back-to-back days. 

Idaho remains the top team in the Big Sky at 7-1. The Vandals have three conference matches remaining on the schedule. Idaho has yet to play Southern Utah, Idaho State and Eastern Washington.

Montana got the upper hand to start, winning the doubles point. Idaho dropped the first doubles match at No. 3. Mark Kovacs and Carlos Longhi Neto evened the point with a 6-4 win at No. 1. Lucas Coutinho and Esteban Santibanez fought at No. 2 but were bested, 7-5, by Max Korkh and Yannick Schmidl. 

Sophomore Guilherme Scarpelli got the Vandals on the board to start singles. He picked up a 6-4, 6-2 win over Ignacio Tejerina at No .3. 

The Griz broke the tie with a 6-4, 7-6(3) win at No. 1 and continued with wins at No. 4 and No. 2 to clinch the match, 4-1. Santibanez retired down a set, 6-3, 1-1, at No. 5 closing out Montana's scoring. 

Coutinho scored Idaho's final point at No. 6. He defeated Ludvig Hallgren, 3-6, 6-2, 10-5.

Idaho will return home on Saturday. The Vandals will take on Southern Utah at 2 p.m.