Men's Tennis Dominate Idaho State 7-0

Wednesday, February 20

Salt Lake City, Utah

5:00 PM

University of Utah

Idaho State

2/20/2008 12:00 AM | Men's Tennis

Feb. 20, 2008

SALT LAKE CITY - The University of Utah men's tennis team out skilled Idaho State on Wednesday night for a 7-0 domination at Eccles Tennis Center. Even though the Utes had two players out for the match today, the Utes still swept through doubles play and didn't let up in singles play. The Utes are now 3-4 for the season.

Stephen Jacobs and Amit Maharaj finished up first for the Utes with an effortless 8-1 win over Jeremy Atkin and Alex Buceta at the No. 3 spot. Stepping in at the No. 2 spot, Othman Zerouali-Ouariti and Jason Smits took on Javier Rovo and David Kutchins. The Ute duo shut down Rovo and Kutchins for an 8-2 victory. On Wednesday, Wes Hancock filled in at top spot in place of Miron Mann who was out with a foot injury. He teamed up with Zach Ganger against Marc Pijoan Dane Barrenetxea for an 8-3 win.

The Utes continued their momentum in singles play against the Bengals. Maharaj finished up first at the No. 6 slot against Kutchins. The Bengal was no match for the Ute. Maharaj shut down Kutchins 6-0, 6-0. Smits finished up next at the No. 4 spot against Buceta. Smits overpowered Buceta in a 6-0, 6-1 contest in the Ute's favor.

Jacobs played at the No. 5 spot for Utah on Wednesday. The Ute faced Atkin from Idaho State for 6-0, 6-1 annihilation, giving Utes the 4-0 winning lead. Hancock finished out next at the No. 2 spot against Rovo. The Ute played through two sets for a 6-3, 6-1 win.

Zerouali-Ouariti took on Barrenetxea at the No. 3 spot. The Ute dominated the first set 6-0, but the Bengal tried to come back in the second set. Barrenetxea won three games, but Zerouali-Ouariti stopped him there to take the win at 6-0, 6-3.

Ganger finished out last at the top spot against Pijoan. The Ute took the first set 6-2, but had some trouble in the second set shutting it down early. Due to some bad calls, an official was called to stay on the court for the remainder of the match. With all eyes on the court, the two battled through the second set until Ganger hit an ace to end the match at 6-2, 6-4.

Quote from assistant coach Roeland Brateanu:
"Our guys did a tremendous job today in beating Idaho State and not waste any energy. From top to bottom, with two guys out, we were able to dominate them right from the start. Stephen and Amit came into the line up and deserve much credit for taking care of business. This will give some confidence towards Friday's home match against a much better Nevada."

Utah 7, Idaho State 0Singles:1. Zach Ganger (Utah) def. Marc Pijoan (Idaho State); 6-2, 6-42. Wes Hancock (Utah) def. Javier Rovo (Idaho State); 6-3, 6-13. Othman Zerouali-Ouariti (Utah) def. Danel Barrenetxea (Idaho State); 6-0, 6-34. Jason Smits (Utah) def. Alex Buceta (Idaho State); 6-0, 6-15. Stephen Jacobs (Utah) def. Jeremy Atkin (Idaho State); 6-0, 6-16. Amit Maharaj (Utah) def. David Kutchins (Idaho State); 6-0, 6-0
Doubles:1. Ganger/Hancock (Utah) def. Pijoan/Barrenetxea (Idaho State); 8-32. Zerouali-Ouariti/Smits (Utah) def. Rovo/Kutchins (Idaho State); 8-23. Jacobs/Maharaj (Utah) def. Atkin/Buceta (Idaho State); 8-1