University of Washington
Idaho
Huskies Make Successful Step Up Versus Vandals
January 20, 2012 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 20, 2012
SEATTLE - The young 26th-ranked Husky men's tennis team got its first test against ranked competition this season, and passed with a 7-0 sweep of 57th-ranked Idaho at the Nordstrom Tennis Center. The Huskies (2-0) won a tightly contested doubles point and then dropped just one set in singles to handle the Vandals.
Idaho was a step up for the Huskies from their season opening win over Seattle U. The Vandals have been ranked much of the past two seasons and just missed the NCAA tourney a year ago.
Head Coach Matt Anger said this was "absolutely" a good progression for the Dawgs. "I think our guys will be better prepared for the next one after this and then the National Team Indoor weekend coming up," he said. "Number one doubles having to finish it off, and then even though some of the singles scores were lopsided, there were a lot of long games ... and I liked how our guys kept working and playing hard and coming through."
Junior Marton Bots gained the clinching singles win at the third singles spot. He took the first set and held a 5-2 second set lead over Cristobal Ramos Salazar, before Salazar saved a couple match points and broke serve for 5-4, but Bots broke right back to finish the match, 6-2, 6-4.
The first singles win of the day came from sophomore Max Manthou. He took the first set 6-0 before Jose Bendeck won the first game of the second set. But Manthou answered with another six-straight games to win, 6-0, 6-1.
15th-ranked junior Kyle McMorrow made his dual match season debut and had no problems against Marius Cirstea at No. 1 singles. The All-Pac-12 First Teamer served very effectively en route to a 6-4, 6-4 win.
Redshirt frosh Nicholas Kamisar pulled away from Filip Fichtel at No. 6 singles, 6-4, 6-2, to make it 5-0 for the Dawgs. Freshman Emmett Egger then put away Abid Akbar at second singles, 6-4, 6-4. That left freshman Viktor Farkas on court at No. 5 singles. He rallied from a set down to the defensive-minded Cesar Torres and eventually took the match in a super-tiebreak, 4-6, 6-4, (10-7) to complete the sweep.
The doubles point quickly shaped up as a battle at the No. 1 spot, as the Huskies raced out to a big lead at three but Idaho did the same on court two. Freshman Jeff Hawke and Manthou cruised to an 8-1 win at third doubles over Knox and Dobbs of Idaho. But Akbar and Salazar got the Vandals even with an 8-3 win over Farkas and Bots. Meanwhile, the No. 1 match went along on serve until 5-all, when McMorrow and Egger got the first break of the match and then backed it up for a 7-5 edge. After Idaho held, Egger served out the win for the Dawgs, 8-6, to clinch the doubles point.
The Huskies will be back in action in a Sunday matinee at the Nordstrom. 75th-ranked Pacific is on tap with a 12 noon start time.
Washington Men's Tennis
Nordstrom Tennis Center - Seattle, Wash.
January 20, 2012
No. 26 Washington 7; No. 57 Idaho 0
Doubles
2) Akbar/Salazar (UI) def. Farkas/Bots (UW), 8-3
3) Manthou/Hawke (UW) def. Knox/Dobbs (UI), 8-1
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles
1) Kyle McMorrow (UW) def. Marius Cirstea (UI), 6-4, 6-4
2) Emmett Egger (UW) def. Abid Akbar (UI), 6-4, 6-4
3) Marton Bots (UW) def. Cristobal Ramos Salazar (UI), 6-2, 6-4
4) Max Manthou (UW) def. Jose Bendeck (UI), 6-0, 6-1
5) Viktor Farkas (UW) def. Cesar Torres (UI), 4-6, 6-4, (10-7)
6) Nicholas Kamisar (UW) def. Filip Ficthel (UI), 6-4, 6-2
Order of finish: 4, 1, 3, 6, 2, 5
