LEWISTON, Idaho – To close out regular season play, the Idaho men's tennis team battled back from an early doubles deficit and rallied off six straight singles victories to surge past Weber State, 6-1 at the LCSC Tennis Center.

Before the match, head coach Daniel Hangstefer honored three seniors that donned the Silver and Gold over the past four seasons - Francisco Bascon, Bruno Casino and Vivek Ramesh. The trio went on to win over 270 matches in their time as a Vandal.  

Idaho (12-8; 5-2 BSC) dropped two out of three doubles matches against Weber State (11-9; 4-2 BSC) to start the match. Alex Asenov and Casino fell on court three to Sebastian Buxman and Jordan Coutinho to put pressure on courts two and three. Francisco Gay and Taiyo Kurata responded with a 7-5 result at No. 2 but the duo of Tristan Sarap and Elyes Marouani were too much for Bascon and Matteo Masala, as the Weber pair won 6-4. 

The Vandals' response in singles was complete dominance from the jump as courts one through six earned straight-set wins to help secure a three seed for the Vandals in next week's Big Sky Championship Tournament in Phoenix, Arizona (April 27-29).

On court three, Casino posted a 6-4 result in the first frame before closing out Weber's Connor Kruger 6-2 to tie the score at 1-1. The win for the Santander, Spain native moved him to 12-8 on the season and 4-2 in conference action.

Following up on court two was a matchup between Gay and Sarap. The first set was controlled by Gay with a 6-2 win, but the second frame would be more of a challenge as it would go to a tiebreaker that went in favor of Gay, 7-5, to give the Vandals a 2-1 advantage. 

Bascon earned Idaho's third point of the afternoon and posted his 16th singles win of his senior campaign with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) outcome over Buxman on court one. 

Quickly following was Kurata on court four against Marouani. The Idaho freshman from Japan opened with a 6-4 result in set one before closing out the Vandals' third straight tiebreak win, 7-4 to clinch the match.

Adding Idaho's fifth point in a row to the scoreboard was Masala at the No. 5 position. He won convincingly 6-1, 6-3 over William Zulch. Mario Duron closed out the perfect performance in singles action, as the junior from Mexico earned a 6-2, 6-4 straight-set victory over Matteo Savio at No. 6. 

The three-seeded Idaho Vandals turn their focus to the Big Sky Tournament next week, where they look to become repeat champions. The Vandals will face the Montana Grizzlies in the opening round on Thursday, April 27 at 8 a.m. Pacific Time from the Phoenix Tennis Center.
 
University of Idaho 6, Weber State 1

Singles competition 
1. Francisco Bascon (IDAHO) def. Sebastian Buxman (WSU-M) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) 
2. Francisco Gay (IDAHO) def. Tristan Sarap (WSU-M) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) 
3. Bruno Casino (IDAHO) def. Connor Kruger (WSU-M) 6-4, 6-2 
4. Taiyo Kurata (IDAHO) def. Elyes Marouani (WSU-M) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) 
5. Matteo Masala (IDAHO) def. William Zulch (WSU-M) 6-1, 6-3 
6. Mario Duron (IDAHO) def. Matteo Savio (WSU-M) 6-2, 6-4 

Doubles competition 
1. Tristan Sarap/Elyes Marouani (WSU-M) def. Francisco Bascon/Matteo Masala (IDAHO) 6-4
2. Francisco Gay/Taiyo Kurata (IDAHO) def. William Zulch/Connor Kruger (WSU-M) 7-5 
3. Sebastian Buxman/Jordan Coutinho (WSU-M) def. Bruno Casino/Alex Asenov (IDAHO) 6-3 

Match Notes: 
Weber State 11-9, 4-2 
University of Idaho 12-8, 5-2 
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (3,2,1,4,5,6)

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