GOLD RIVER, Calif. (May 1, 2016) – They say the third time’s the charm, and the resilient Weber State men’s tennis team was not going to be denied this time. The top-seeded Wildcats outlasted No. 2 Idaho 4-3 in a thrilling championship match to give WSU its first Big Sky tournament title since 1992.
The title match was exactly what it was chalked up to be, a battle between the top two teams in regular season. With Idaho having put the only blemish on WSU’s 10-1 league record in the regular season, revenge was sweet for the Wildcats in becoming undisputed champions while knocking off the defending 2015 champs. WSU, a team that had twice not exited the Big Sky tournament the way they had hoped the previous two seasons, got over the hump this time.
"Idaho has an extremely talented team and we played our best tennis to barely pull it out," WSU Director of Tennis Brad Ferreira said. "What an exciting day for Weber State tennis. I couldn't be prouder of this incredible group of men."
With the doubles point being a necessity throughout the men’s tournament, the teams exchanged wins to open play. WSU’s No. 3 pair of Landon Barlow and Hou-En Chen worked past Idaho’s Mark Kovacs and Lucas Coutinho 6-3. Idaho then got a spark from court one, as Jackson Varney and Artem Vasheshnikov handed Stefan Cooper and Sanjay Gowami just their second loss to a conference foe this season with a 6-2 result. With the intensity rising throughout doubles play, Todd Fought and Jakub Gewert rose to the occasion battling back from a 0-3 deficit to top Idaho’s No. 2 duo of Odon Barta and Felipe Fonseca 6-4.
Idaho got a good burst to open singles play, as Varney and Kovacs each won in straight sets on courts four and three. Varney defeated Chen 6-2, 6-2 while Kovacs became the only Big Sky player to beat Cooper in singles play all season, earning a big 6-4, 6-4 win and giving Idaho the lead.
Barlow got things going for the Wildcats at No. 5 singles, rallying from behind towards a 6-4 first-set win over Vasheshnikov and then rolling to a 6-0 mark in the second to even the match. Barta responded for Idaho at court one, easing to a 6-0 decision in the first set, and grinding out a 7-5 victory over Gewert that put Idaho up 3-2.
With the championship up in the air at courts two and six, WSU gained the edge with its back against the wall. Fought took the opening set convincingly 6-1 over Fonseca at No. 2 singles, but Fonseca stayed alive in the second 6-4. Fought found his form once again in the deciding set, pushing away with a 6-2 victory and evening the score at 3-all. Fought improved to 12-1 against Big Sky competition this season while handing Fonseca just his second loss in that category.
It all came down to court No. 6, where Goswami and Coutinho were locked in the tightest singles match of the day. Goswami, the reigning Big Sky Player of the Week, fought to take the opening set 6-4 only to have Coutinho answer grabbing a 6-2 win in the second. Moments after Fought’s win at line two, the crowd gravitated over to court six, where Goswami pushed to a 5-4 advantage and then clinched the match on a deuce to send the Wildcats to the dance. Seniors Goswami and Fought were a combined 24-2 against Big Sky competition this season.
Weber State claimed its first tournament title under the direction of Ferreira to go with the three regular season championships the Wildcats have claimed consecutively. The WSU program grabbed its 10
th tournament title overall, having won nine of those among in a span of 10 years from 1983-1992 back when a round-robin format was used.
"I hate to say that someone deserves something but these seniors deserved this win," Ferreira said. "They have worked hard and competed extremely well for four years. They've had disappointment of being in the championships three other times and not getting it done. With a 36-6 Big Sky Record they deserved some recognition."
The Wildcats receive the Big Sky’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, with the pairings being announced on Tuesday at NCAA.com.