PHOENIX – Idaho men's tennis (15-8, 5-2 BSC) defeated No. 71 Northern Arizona (22-3, 7-0 BSC) by a 4-3 score to win the 2023 Big Sky Tournament Championship on Saturday afternoon at the Phoenix Tennis Center.
The championship was Idaho's second straight title and 16th in the program's history. The Vandals have now won the tournament championship in five of the last eight seasons since rejoining the Big Sky in 2015.
For the second consecutive day, sophomore
Francisco Gay won the clinching point to seal a match win for Idaho.
The Vandals fell in a 1-0 hole after Northern Arizona earned two out of three wins in doubles play on courts one and three. Gay and
Taiyo Kurata were victorious on court three with a 7-4 tiebreak win over Alex Groves and Piotr Galus.
In singles, the Vandals won two straight-set matches, but Northern Arizona split on courts two and three to force deciding third sets.
Junior
Mario Duron helped even the score up at 1-1 with a 6-2, 7-5 win against Dani Torres on court six, but the Lumberjacks bounced back with a straight-set win on court four.
Senior
Francisco Bascon delivered his 19th singles win of the season after defeating Maikel De Boes 6-4, 6-2 on court one to even it back up at 2-2. NAU again countered with a three-set victory on court five.
The final two points went in favor of the Vandals as
Bruno Casino delivered a 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 win over Facundo Tumosa on court three to make it 3-3.
All eyes shifted to court two as Gay and Galus competed in a three-set finale. NAU's Galus won the first set convincingly 6-2 before Gay responded with a 6-4 result in the second frame. The third set was controlled by Galus as he held a 5-3 lead on serve for match point (40-15) to clinch the championship for the Lumberjacks. Gay rallied by winning the next three points and four straight games to clinch the title match for the Vandals.
Northern Arizona entered the tournament as the top seed, while the Vandals were seeded third. NAU is ranked No. 71 in the ITA team rankings before suffering their third loss of the season on Saturday.
The Vandals head into the NCAA tournament on a five-match win streak. The NCAA Selection Show will stream online on NCAA.com on Monday, May 1 at 3:30 p.m. Pacific Time.
Idaho 4, Northern Arizona 3
Singles competition
1.
Francisco Bascon (IDAHO) def. DE BOES, Maikel (NAU) 6-4, 6-2
2.
Francisco Gay (IDAHO) def. GALUS, Piotr (NAU) 2-6, 6-4, 7-5
3.
Bruno Casino (IDAHO) def. TUMOSA, Facundo (NAU) 6-0, 4-6, 6-3
4. BUZONICS, Dominik (NAU) def.
Taiyo Kurata (IDAHO) 6-4, 6-4
5. GROVES, Alex (NAU) def.
Matteo Masala (IDAHO) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
6.
Mario Duron (IDAHO) def. TORRES, Dani (NAU) 6-2, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. TUMOSA, Facundo/DE BOES, Maikel (NAU) def.
Francisco Bascon/
Matteo Masala (IDAHO) 6-4
2.
Francisco Gay/
Taiyo Kurata (IDAHO) def. GROVES, Alex/GALUS, Piotr (NAU) 7-6
3. BUZONICS, Dominik/DILLON, Daniel (NAU) def.
Bruno Casino/
Alex Asenov (IDAHO) 7-6
Match Notes:
Idaho 14-8 (5-2) Northern Arizona 22-2 (7-0)
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (6,4,1,5,3,2)
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