EVANSTON, Ill. - Boise State men’s tennis was edged 4-3 by the Harvard Crimson Saturday afternoon in Evanston, Ill. Boise State lost what proved to be a key point in doubles as the Crimson claimed a 2-0 win. The Broncos attempted to rally in singles needing four to gained the team victory. Unfortunately, the Blue and Orange came up one short in a dramatic battle claiming wins by Thomas Tenreiro, Toby Mitchell and Brian Foley. The loss dropped the Broncos to 2-4 on the year.
The day began with Harvard claiming the doubles point with victories on courts three and one. Boise State’s Foley and Danny Moyer fell 6-1 at No. 3 doubles. That was followed by Mitchell’s and Garrett Patton’s 6-2 loss at No. 1 doubles to the seventh-ranked pair in the nation, Harvard’s Denis Nguyen and Brian Young. The final match was suspended once the team point was decided, however, Boise State’s Abe Hewko and Tenreiro were leading 5-3 when play stopped.
Down one point, Boise State needed four wins in singles to claim the team victory. Things did not start well for the Broncos as Harvard claimed a 6-1, 6-1 win on court six over Boise State’s Danny Moyer, followed shortly after by a 6-2, 6-4 victory on court five over Abe Hewko. Those two wins put the Crimson within one of victory in the team score up 3-0.
The remaining four matches began to tighten up, but it would not go the Broncos way as the next match finished clinched the team victory for Harvard. Nicky Hu defeated the Broncos’ Patton in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 on court two giving the Crimson all they needed up 4-0.
That was all they would get as Boise State came storming back sweeping the final three matches. Foley recorded the first Bronco point with a two set 6-4, 6-4 win on court four over Harvard’s Kenny Tao. The victory improved Foley to 7-11 in singles on the year.
Thomas Tenreiro held on to upset 57th-ranked Denis Nguyen on court one in a third-set 10-point tie breaker. Tenreiro lost the first set decisively at 1-6, then rallied to win the second 7-5. He then claim a 10-7 tiebreak victory in set three to make the team score 4-2 Harvard. The junior is now 6-9 in singles overall.
The final Bronco victory came on court three where Mitchell won a second set tiebreaker to claim the win. The junior from England claimed the first set 6-4, then had to battle hard against Alex Steinroeder of Harvard in the second set to claim the 7-6 (4) victory. Mitchell is now a team-best 8-5 this season and 2-2 in duals.
Match Summary
No. 30 Harvard (4-1) vs. No. 45 Boise State (2-4)
Feb. 7, 2015
Evantson, Ill. (Northwestern University)
Harvard def. Boise State 4-3
Doubles Results
1: No. 7 Denis Nguyen/Brian Young (HU) def. Toby Mitchell/ Garrett Patton (BSU) 6-2
2: Sebastian Beltrame/Nicky Hu (HU) vs. Abe Hewko/Thomas Tenreiro (BSU) 3-5 (unf.)
3: Alex Steinroeder/Grant Solomon (HU) def. Brian Foley/Danny Moyer (BSU) 6-1
Order of finish: 3, 1*
Singles Results
5: Brian Young (HU) def. Abe Hewko (BSU) 6-2, 6-4
Order of finish: 6, 5, 2*, 4, 1, 3
