MATCH NOTES | TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
ABOUT IDAHO STATE
The Idaho State men's tennis program travels to Sacramento State for the 2013 Big Sky Conference Tournament. The championship begins Friday, April 26 with the quarterfinals. The semifinals will be played Saturday, April 27 and the final match will take place Sunday, April 28. Idaho State faces Weber State in the quarterfinal at 10 a.m. Friday.
QUEST FOR THE BIG SKY CHAMPIONSHIP
The Idaho State men have clinched a spot in the Big Sky Tournament for the first time since 2006.
The ISU men finished the 2013 season with an 8-2 Big Sky record, earning the No. 4 seed in the Big Sky Conference Tournament. Sacramento State earned the top seed while Montana State is the No. 2 seed. Montana is the No. 3 seed while No. 5 Weber State and No. 6 Eastern Washington round out the field of contestants.
The last time ISU went to a Big Sky Tournament it was in the six-team format (2006). No. 5 ISU defeated No. 4 Eastern Washington 4-1 in quarterfinal and lost to No. 1 Montana State 4-0 in the semifinal. ISU has never won a Big Sky Tournament title as a team.
ABOUT THE TOURNAMENT
The No. 4 Bengals face No. 5 Weber State Friday, April 26 at 10 a.m. No. 6 Eastern Washington faces No. 3 Montana at the same time. No. 1 Sacramento State and No. 2 Montana State have a bye to the semifinals. The Hornets face the lowest remaining seed in the semifinals while the Griz will take on the highest remaining seed.
Score updates for the quarterfinal and semifinal matches are available at the championship central page available at the Big Sky conference website. Search #Big Sky Tennis for tournament updates on Twitter. Live stats for the men's championship match will be available at
www.bigskyconf.com.
MEN GO UNDEFEATED AT HOME IN 2013
The Idaho State men went a perfect 8-0 at home this season, recording the first undefeated home season in more than 10 years.
BENGAL LEADERS
Freshman
Jamey Swiggart leads the Bengals with a 15-3 singles record and is a perfect 9-0 in Big Sky singles. He is followed by sophomore
Austin Miller with a 12-4 singles record. Miller is 9-3 at the No. 6 position and 3-1 at the No. 5 spot. Senior
Charles Norman is 11-5 overall and 11-3 at the No. 2 position.
In doubles action, sophomores
Andres Coello and
Krzysztof Stempien boast a 13-5 record. They are followed by the senior team of
Charles Norman and
Nate Gross who have achieved a 10-5 record in the No. 1 spot. Coello and Stempien are 8-2 in conference doubles matches.
NORMAN TWO-TIME PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior
Charles Norman has been named Player of the Week twice this season. Norman earned his first POTW nod on March 19 and he was named POTW again on April 16. Norman was the first ISU player since 2009 to be named POTW. Javier Royo had been the previous Bengal to earn the weekly honor. Norman earned his first POTW award after he and doubles partner,
Nate Gross, defeated No. 80 ranked Malko and Marksoo of Sacramento State before Norman went on to defeat Malko at the No. 2 singles. Norman was named POTW again after going 3-0 in both doubles and singles against Northern Colorado, North Dakota and Seattle.
ABOUT WEBER STATE AND SERIES HISTORY
Weber State is 10-11 overall this season and 5-4 in Big Sky Conference play. The Wildcats are on a four-match winning streak after defeating North Dakota, Northern Colorado, Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. Jakub Gewert and Sanjay Goswami lead WSU with 11-9 singles records. Gewert is 7-2 in conference singles. Goswami and doubles partner Todd Fought lead WSU with a 12-7 doubles record. The duo is 6-2 in league matches.
Weber State leads the all-time series 14-11 and are 6-5 against the Bengals in conference match-ups. Idaho State is 2-0 against Weber State in Big Sky Tournament contests. The Bengals broke a 14-match losing streak to the Wildcats with a 5-2 win against Weber State on March 2. ISU has split with WSU this season, losing the first match-up of the season 4-3 at Weber State.
