BOISE, Idaho – The Gonzaga men's tennis team dropped its first match of the season, falling at Boise State to a 4-3 decision Sunday afternoon inside the Boas Indoor Tennis Center in Boise, Idaho.
 
"Difficult loss on the road today," Head Coach Jonas Piibor said. "I also think it was important for our new team and especially the new guys to experience adversity on the road. We are looking forward to our next opportunity to compete again."
 
Gonzaga (5-1) opened the match with a sweep in doubles play, beginning with a victory at No. 3 doubles as Matthew Hollingworth and Matthew Perkins defeated Lukas Ridemar and Caden Moortgat 6-3. Theo McDonald and Oliver Andersson clinched the doubles point at No. 1, defeating Kyryll Kryvchun and Michael Bott 6-2. Leon Roider and Sasha Trkulja completed the sweep with a 6-2 victory at No. 2.
 
"I thought we came out with a lot of energy in doubles," Piibor said.
 
In singles play, Hollingworth made quick work of Kryvchun at No. 1, picking up the 6-3, 6-0 victory while Trkulja finished closed behind with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Blake Bayldon at No. 2 singles to give Gonzaga a 3-0 lead in the match. But the final match point was tough to come by as Gonzaga took losses at No. 6, No. 5, No. 3 and No. 4 singles. In the final singles match with the match tied 3-3, Gonzaga's Oliver Andersson took a 6-4 victory in the first set, while the Broncos' Wyatt DeMulling battled back in the second for a 6-2 win to force a tiebreaker. Wyatt came out on top 7-6 (7-4) to clinch the match point for the Broncos, dealing the Zags their first loss of the season.


"We had opportunities to claim more first sets than we did," Piibor said. "As a team, we need to be tougher in those situations when we need to close."
 
Gonzaga returns to play Friday, Feb. 6 at 5 p.m. against visiting Portland State inside the Stevens Center. Visit GoZags.com for up-to-date match time information.