Men’s tennis sweeps weekend matches
Main Feature, Sports, Sports Main Feature Monday, February 13th, 2012
Garrett Patton concentrates on his return shot to his Montana State doubles opponent Friday.(David Wuerth/The Arbiter)
With temperatures nearing the mid-forties in the Treasure Valley—Boise detests predictable weather—the Boise State men’s tennis team has their eyes on the 2012 spring season.
Before the outdoor events could take place, however, the No. 45 nationally ranked Broncos had to face Montana State, Idaho State and University of Idaho at Boas Indoor Tennis Center last weekend.
Boise State earned two wins against the Bobcats (6-1) and Bengals (7-1) Friday, followed by yet another win against the Vandals (7-1). The Broncos improved to 8-1 on the season, and left Santa Clara as their only blemish on their record.
On Friday, Head Coach Greg Patton made an interesting lineup change, moving redshirt junior Scott Sears into the number one slot.
In his first career game as the Broncos’ ace, the London native fell to Niklas Brandes of Montana State, but rebounded against Idaho State’s Charles Norman 6-2, 6-2.
Sears played entirely in the No. 3 position last spring.
“We moved everybody up and the whole idea was to challenge them. Our depth is real important and we’re trying to stay fine-tuned,” Patton said.
Redshirt freshman Aidan Reid won two matches in three sets and is now a combined 5-0 in singles and doubles since last spring. Freshman Garrett Patton, sophomore Nathan Sereke and junior Filipp Pogostin all won in straight sets Friday.
Being the coach’s son, as well as a true freshman, Garrett Patton knows he still has a lot to prove to his teammates.
Despite the added pressure of playing in the No. 2 spot in the lineup, the Boise High School product has shown he can compete in a strong
program.
“It’s a great opportunity and it’s a lot of fun,” Garrett said. “I’ve been working on my confidence. Playing number two and winning has definitely boosted that.”
For Coach Patton, the first day of matches—against ISU and MSU—was more of an “experiment.” Idaho, however, was an opponent the Broncos still had a vendetta against from the previous season.
Despite the Broncos’ fear of a possible slip-up against the 66th ranked Vandals, Coach Patton was able to lead his team to a 7-0 victory, improving Boise State to 7-1 on the season. Though Friday and Saturday’s games were positive for the Broncos, the team is not satisfied with their No. 45 national ranking. Coach Patton still believes a top-30 ranking is obtainable, once the team is at full strength.
Damian Hume, who finished with an individual No. 25 national ranking, has been sidelined due to NCAA violations and technicalities. Hume has missed the entire season so far and is expected to return in the next couple of weeks.
“We’ve just got to wait until the NCAA gives us the OK, but they’re just brutal,” Coach Patton said. “Sometimes they just don’t have any common sense. Is this what sports are about?”
Short URL: http://arbiteronline.com/?p=81321
Posted by John Engel on Feb 13 2012. Filed under Main Feature, Sports, Sports Main Feature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
