The Boise State Men’s Tennis team won their 16th game of the season in their two matches against the University of New Mexico on April 16 and Air Force on April 18.
During Friday’s match, the Broncos held off the Lobos to take the lead 4-3. New Mexico was down 3-0, but rallied to tie the score.
It wasn’t until redshirt junior Luka Soskic came back from a set down to win the match for the Broncos. This was Soskic’s eighth win of the season.
With the team’s victory, New Mexico took their first defeat in conference play.
“This was an excellent college tennis match today, this is what it’s all about when it comes down to the wire and everybody’s fighting for that point,” said Head Coach Kristian Widen. “Matches like this one are so much fun to be part of, obviously winning is more fun than losing, but this is what the guys are looking for and what college tennis is all about.”
Opening up the match in doubles, freshman Caden Moortgat and redshirt sophomore Lawrence Sciglitano claimed the first victory for the Broncos 6-4. Trailing behind them with another win 6-3 and the team point was redshirt sophomores Simon Arca Costas and Lukas Ridemar.
In the singles match, Boise State led with straight-set wins by Arca Costas and redshirt senior Wyatt DeMulling. This was Arca Costas’s 52nd career victory and DeMulling’s 62nd.
Photo by Mackenzie Hudson | The Arbiter
The match came down to Soskic where he battled to beat his opponent 4-6, 6-4 and 6-4, clinching the win for the Broncos.
“The team played as a whole today. I thought we started a little bit slow in doubles, then came back on all courts,” Soskic said. “In singles, we had good energy from the beginning. I messed up the first set, but I kept fighting for every ball, every point and was able to come back. I kind of realized early in the second set that it was probably going to come down to my match to decide everything.”
After Friday’s win, the Broncos took on the Falcons from Air Force on Sunday. With four straight-singles victories, Boise State won the match 4-2.
The Broncos opened the day with a slow start dropping the doubles points 0-2.
Heading into singles, the team picked up the pace by taking two quick wins from Arca Costas and senior Blake Bayldon.
“You know we came out a little bit sleepy today, but we really got it going and singles. I think we all won our first sets,” DeMulling said. “Sometimes that’s tennis, you’re not playing your best, but then you figure it out and find a way to win. You know that’s the part of this sport that’s part of life. We figured out a way to win today so I’m proud of the team for that.”
Trailing behind Arca Costas and Bayldon was redshirt junior Kyryll Kryvchun who claimed the third victory in singles.
It came down to DeMulling who pulled through for the Broncos with a three set 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to win it.
“We knew it was going to be a battle against Air Force,” Widen said. “You knew coming in that they are a team that’s going to fight, it’s in their nature. I think our team handled it pretty well today. We did not come out the way we wanted to in doubles, but we’re here to win this match.”
The Broncos now stand 16-3 overall and 4-2 in conference play. The team’s final match of the season will take place on Saturday, April 24 against Utah State at Appleton Tennis Center.
