University of Northern Colorado Athletics
University of Northern Colorado
Portland State
Players Mentioned
Lombardi Shines in Bears Loss to Portland State
3/26/2017 3:29:00 PM | Men's Tennis
GREELEY, Colo.- Portland State University defeated Northern Colorado in men's tennis on Sunday by a score of 4-3. The Bears had a rocky start to the match and won just one of three doubles matches to trail 1-0. Then in singles play, Alex Vakouftsis played well but could not muster enough to beat last season's Big Sky player of the year, Portland State's Nathan Boniel.
On a positive note, Agustin Lombardi played well in singles and doubles, going undefeated on the day and winning his match at No. 4 in three sets. The Bears also got wins at No. 3 (Hayden Cramer), and No. 6 (Cassell King). Northern Colorado was without the services of Connor Finerty, who was a late scratch from the lineup.
With the loss on Sunday, Northern Colorado's overall record drops to 6-10, 3-5 in the Big Sky Conference while Portland State improves to 3-10, 1-5 in Big Sky play. UNC will be back in action on April 1st when they travel to Moscow, Idaho to play the Vandals. The following day they face Eastern Washington in Cheney, Washington. Starting times are 10:00am and 2:00pm respectively.
Scores-
Doubles
1. PST (Edwards, Boniel) def. UNC (King, Vakouftsis) 6-4
2. UNC (Cramer, Lombardi) def. PST (Goldner, Abdo) 7-6(4)
3. PST (Larson, Lopez) def. UNC (Pease, Clerihew) 6-4
Singles
1- PST (Nathan Boniel) def. UNC (Alex Vakouftsis) 6-3, 6-3
2- PST (Tommy Edwards) def. UNC (Kyle Pease) 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-5
3- UNC (Hayden Cramer) def. PST (Scott Goldner) 6-3, 7-6(3)
4- UNC (Agustin Lombardi) def. PST (Ethan Lopez) 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
5- UNC (Cassell King) def. PST (Yousef Abdo) 7-6(10), 6-4
6- PST (Sam Larson) def. UNC (Alex Clerihew) 6-2, 6-3
Time of the match: 3 hours, 49 minutes
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2) Singles (1,3,4,2,6,5)
Doubles Breakdown:
1. King and Vakouftsis grabbed a 4-1 lead, volleying well and getting first serves in play frequently. The momentum shifted mid-way through the set and the both Sacramento State players were able to cut down on unforced errors, tying the match 4-4. Vakouftsis was unable to get UNC back on top serving at 4-4 and Portland State completed the comeback to take the match 6-4. Time of the match: 29 minutes
2. Number two doubles featured extended rallies on a high majority of points early in the set. With Lombardi serving behind 3-4, The Bears were able to win the deciding deuce point to even the set 4-4. Cramer served out a 40-Love game to even the score again at 5-5. The Bears were able to close out the match in a tiebreaker 7-3 after winning the final five points all in a row. Time of the match: 55 minutes.
3. Portland State kept a one game lead through most of the set, then needed just a single break of serve take the set by a final score of 6-4. Time of the match: 26 minutes.
Singles Breakdown:
1. Alex Vakouftsis did not play poorly against last season's Big Sky player of the year Nathan Boniel and was able to get one break of serve back in the first set, making it 2-4, eventually dropping it 6-3. In the second, Boniel continued to come up with outstanding shots, keeping himself in front by a game and eventually turning the set in his favor 6-3.
Time of the match: 1 hour, 10 minutes.
2. Kyle Pease was happy to trade groundstrokes from the baseline with his opponent Tommy Edwards and was winning a majority of medium rallies, especially early in the first set as he jumped out to a 5-0 lead quickly but he had difficulty closing out the set and Edwards came storming back to win the first set in a tiebreaker. Pease regrouped to win the second set but was unable to battle through the third set and come out with a win, losing 7-5. Time of the match: 2 hours, 15 minutes.
3. Like Lombardi, Hayden Cramer also used the positive momentum gained in doubles to come out with good energy in singles and was the first player to take a set off Portland State. The second set was a much tighter affair but Cramer played excellent in the tiebreaker, winning, it 7-3. Time of the match: 1 hour, 15 minutes.
4. Agustin Lombardi played well in his doubles tiebreaker and the momentum clearly carried over to singles play early in the first set. After splitting the first two sets, Lombardi played excellent tennis in the third to take it 6-2. Time of the match: 1 hour, 50 minutes.
5. Cassell King gained a critical break of serve trailing 4-5 in the first set and won the tiebreaker 12-10. He jumped out to an early lead in the second and carried the momentum through to the victory 7-6(10), 6-4.
6. Alex Clerihew was effective using his forehand to set up chances to come in to the net, but his opponent, Ethan Lopez, was ultimately the more consistent player and won more long rallies for the match 6-2, 6-3.
