SPOKANE, Wash.—The Gonzaga University men's tennis team put on a spectacular comeback Saturday afternoon, beating Idaho 5-2 while winning five singles matches at The Stevens Center in Spokane.

Vicente Varas started the Zags' stellar singles play, picking up his first win of the dual season in the process. The junior ceded only three games at No. 6 singles, taking down Idaho's Rhys Richardson 6-3, 6-0. That match was the first singles contest to finish.

At No. 2 singles, Nick Kamisar gave the Zags another point, dispatching Idaho's Jackson Varney in straight sets as well. The senior for Gonzaga also won all but three games, prevailing 6-1, 6-2 for his ninth singles victory of the school year.

The Zags went on the brink thanks to Vladimir Mijatovic's comeback victory at No. 4 singles. The senior dropped the first set 3-6, but he fought back in resounding fashion, winning each of the next two sets with 6-1 scores. Like Varas and Kamisar, Mijatovic also tallied his first singles victory in dual play this year.

Gonzaga clinched the victory at the top spot in the lineup with Alvaro Nazal picking up the crucial point. Nazal won his first set against Odon Barta 6-1, but Barta took the second 3-6. The Zag found the winning touch again in the third set, 6-2, for the win.

The home team picked up one more point at No. 3 singles where Hayden Smith outlasted Idaho's Fellipe Fonseca in a back-and-forth affair. They split the first two sets at 2-6 and 6-2, then Smith prevailed in a tiebreak during the third set 7-6 (5) for his second win of the dual slate as well. Idaho picked up a consolation point in a tightly-contest No. 5 singles contest as Nick Kovacs edged out Sergio Chip 7-6 (10), 7-6 (3).

"It was great to see Hayden and Vladimir turn their games around and make it a match," said Peter MacDonald, head coach of the Bulldogs. "Also, Vicente seemed to be the catalyst of it all. He did well today."

The doubles point proved to be an exciting prelude to the singles contests. Idaho took an early advantage by virtue of a win at No. 3 doubles, but Nazal and Kamisar tied it back up with a 6-2 win at the second doubles spot. The Zag duo won the first five games then tallied the clinching point a few games later.

No. 1 doubles, the point-clinching match, was a closely-played contest. Each pair picked up one break apiece, and the match went into a tiebreak. While the tiebreak also went back-and-forth, the Vandal pair of Ramos Salazar and Varney came out ahead 7-6 (6), giving Idaho the point.

With the victory, Gonzaga picked up its first win over the Vandals since the 2008 dual season. That was also a 5-2 win in Spokane for the Zags.

"We're really happy to get the win over Idaho," said MacDonald. "Art [Hoomiratana, Idaho's head coach] always puts together a strong team. This a good win for this program and something we can build on."

The Zags (1-1) will next take their first road trip of the dual season, flying to Des Moines, Iowa, for three matches. The first match of the trip will pit Gonzaga against Drake on Friday, Feb. 6 and will begin at 8:00 a.m. Pacific time (10:00 a.m. local).

Gonzaga 5, Idaho 2
Jan 24, 2015 at Spokane, Wash. (The Stevens Center)