AUSTIN – The Idaho men's tennis team fell 4-0 to the No. 12 seeded Texas Longhorns in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at the Texas Tennis Center.

"I'm very proud of this team," Idaho head coach Daniel Hangstefer said. "We had a tough first half of the season where we battled through injuries. The guys continued to get better every match this season and stayed hungry to reach our goal of winning a conference championship. I'm very excited we get to return every single guy next season and I'm looking forward to accomplishing bigger and better things." 

The Longhorns scored the doubles point to open the match. Texas's Chih Chi Huang and Eshan Talluri defeated Francisco Gay and Mario Duron, 6-2, at No. 3 doubles. UT clinched the point with its 6-3 win at the No. 1 spot.

Singles proved to be a tough challenge for Idaho to try and make any kind of comeback. Matteo Masala fell to Texas's No. 4 Siem Woldeab in straight sets 6-1, 6-0, giving the Longhorns a 2-0 advantage. Huang put Texas up 3-0 with a 6-1, 6-2 decision over Alex Asenov at No. 6. Cleeve Harper closed out the match with a 6-1, 6-4 result over Duron.

Idaho went unfinished against Texas's three nationally ranked players on courts 1-3.

The Vandals turn the page on the 2021-22 season after winning a share of the Big Sky Regular-Season Championship and earning the program's 14th tournament title.

"Going forward to next year,  I think our goal is to do more on the national level. I am excited about this group coming back - they are a bunch of great guys. I couldn't have asked more from them this year."

MATCH RESULTS

#12 Texas 4, Idaho 0

Singles competition
1. #69 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) vs. Bascon,Francisco (ID) 6-3, 4-5, unfinished
2. #34 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) vs. Gay,Francisco (ID) 6-3, 5-3, unfinished
3. #92 Richard Ciamarra (UT) vs. Casino,Bruno (ID) 6-3, 4-5, unfinished
4. Siem Woldeab (UT) def. Masala,Matteo (ID) 6-1, 6-0
5. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Garza,Mario Duron (ID) 6-1, 6-4
6. Chih Chi Huang (UT) def. Asenov,Alex (ID) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. #8 Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab (UT) def. Bascon,Francisco/Casino,Bruno (ID) 6-3
2. #4 Richard Ciamarra/Cleeve Harper (UT) vs. Asenov,Alex/Masala,Matteo (ID) 5-3, unfinished
3. Chih Chi Huang/Eshan Talluri (UT) def. Gay,Francisco/Garza,Mario Duron (ID) 6-2

Match Notes:
Idaho 13-11
Texas 17-10; National ranking #12
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (4,6,5)
NCAA Tournament First Round