SPOKANE, Wash. – The Idaho men's tennis team kicked off the spring season with a tough loss to the Nevada Wolf pack, 4-3, on Sunday at the Stevens Center.

"Tough match. There are positives to take away from it but there are things we can certainly fix and do better," Head coach Daniel Hangstefer said. "I think if we cut out a few errors, this match goes our way next time. Overall, this is improved progress against a tough Nevada team from last year's result."

The morning got started with doubles competition, as the Vandals earned victories on courts one and two. Spaniard's Bruno Casino and Francisco Bascon continued to be effective as partners, earning a 4-0 victory after Nevada's Juan Batalla and Ambroise Marchand had to forfeit due to injury. Casino and Bascon move to 5-1 in doubles play dating back to last season. In the No. 2 spot, Matteo Masala and Mario Duron Garza battled their way to a 7-5 win over Loris Zisswiller and Matheo Coupu which earned a team point for Idaho heading into singles play.

Bascon and Masala we're bright spots in the No. 1 and 3 positions for the Vandals, both picking up wins in singles action. On court one, Bascon defeated Matheo Coupu, 6-2, 6-3 while Masala was resilient after falling in the first set 7-5, as the Italian picked up the next two sets 6-4, 10-6 over Gilas Tamar.

Duron forced a third set in the No. 4 position, but Nevada's Satchel Benn proved to be too much in the final set earning the victory, 3-6, 6-3, 1-6. The Wolf pack won on courts 2, 4, 5, and 6 to help take down the Vandals, 4-3.

Idaho will regroup and return to competition next week when they travel to Seattle for two dual meets against Utah State on Jan. 29 and Washington on Jan. 30.

Fans can stay up to date on all things Idaho men's tennis by visiting GoVandals.com and following the team on Instagram and Twitter at @vandalstennis.

Nevada 4, Idaho 3 

Singles competition
1. Bascon, Francisco (UI) def. Coupu, Matheo (NEV) | 6-2, 6-4
2. Batalla, Juan (NEV) def. Casino, Bruno (UI) | 6-3, 6-4
3. Masala, Matteo (UI) def. Tamar, Gilas (NEV) | 5-7, 6-4, 10-6
4. Benn, Satchel (NEV) def. Duron, Mario (UI) | 3-6, 6-3, 1-6
5. Zisswiller, Loris (NEV) def. Salvador, Alejandro (UI) | 6-3, 6-0
6. N'Tcha, Delmas (NEV) def. Ramesh, Vivek (UI) | 6-4, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. Casino, Bruno/Bascon, Francisco (UI) def. Batalla, Juan/Marchand, Ambroise (NEV) | 4-0
2. Masala, Matteo/Duron, Mario (UI) def. Coupu, Matheo/Zisswiller, Loris (NEV) | 7-5
3. Benn, Satchel/Tamar, Gilas (NEV) def. Taylor, Adam/Salvador, Alejandro (UI) | 6-2

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