Sunday, 02/23/2014

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Garrett Patton kept Boise State’s dream of defending its Blue Gray National Tennis Classic title alive with a third-set tiebreaker on court four to hand the Broncos a 4-3 upset victory over No. 21 Clemson Saturday afternoon in Montgomery, Ala. Trailing 2-0 in the team score the Broncos rallied for the victory with singles wins from Thomas Tenreiro, Brendan McClain, Toby Mitchell and Patton’s match clincher. The team victory is the seven straight for Boise State who improved to 8-2 overall with a BGNTC championship match appearance set for Sunday against No. 36 Virginia Commonwealth.

The victory over Clemson was bitter sweet for the Broncos as it came against the team that eliminated them in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament by the same score.

The Tigers gained the early momentum when they claimed the doubles team point by winning on courts one and three. Boise State was led in doubles by senior Andy Bettles and sophomore Thomas Tenreiro who defeated Clemson’s Alejandro Augusto and Robert Dudley 6-4 on court two. Unfortunately, Clemson collected wins over McClain and Patton on court one (6-2), as well as against Mitchell and Nathan Sereke (6-5 (4)) at the threes.

The Tigers extended their lead to 2-0 win No. 90 Bettles fell to No. 67 Hunter Harrington in straight sets 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 singles. Boise State would regroup down the stretch. As they have often this season the lower ranked singles matches have carried the Broncos on to victory as Boise State’s wins came on courts three through six.

Tenreiro recorded the first Boise State singles victory with a straight set 6-4, 6-3 win over Clemson’s Alejandro Augusto at the No. 3 position. McClain added a two-set win on court five over Luke Johnson from CU by 6-5 (6), 6-1 scores. McClain is now 13-6 on the year in singles.

Toby Mitchell won on court six defeating the Tigers’ Fernando Sala 6-3, 6-4 to move his season singles record to 12-6. The fourth and decisive victory was Garrett Patton’s on court four. The junior from Boise rallied from one set down to win in a third-set tiebreaker 2-6, 6-4, 6-5 (9) over Clemson’s Austin Ansari.

MATCH SUMMARY
Blue Gray National Tennis Classic
Montgomery, Ala.
Feb. 22, 2014

No. 41 Boise State (7-2) vs. No. 21 Clemson (11-1)

Doubles Results
1. Harrington/Maden (CU) def. McClain/Patton (BSU), 6-2
2. Bettles/Tenreiro (BSU) def. Augusto/Robert Dudley (CU), 6-4
3. Ansari/Johnson (CU) def. Mitchell/Sereke (BSU), 6-5 (4)

Singles Results
1. Hunter Harrington (CU) def. No. 90 Andy Bettles (BSU), 6-1, 6-1
2. Dominique Maden (CU) def. Nathan Sereke (BSU), 6-4, 6-3
3. Thomas Tenreiro (BSU) def. Alejandro Augusto (CU), 6-4, 6-3
4. Garrett Patton (BSU) def. Austin Ansari (CU), 2-6, 6-4, 6-5 (9)
5. Brendan McClain (BSU) def. Luke Johnson (CU), 6-5 (6), 6-1
6. Toby Mitchell (BSU) def. Fernando Sala (CU), 6-3, 6-4