Broncos roll past Portland State in season opener

Friday, January 14

Eugene, Ore.

4 p.m. MT

Boise State

Portland State

1/14/2022 8:23:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

EUGENE, Ore. – Boise State men's tennis rolled in its season opener at Eugene, Ore., sweeping the shorthanded Portland State Vikings 7-0. Leading the Broncos were Caden Moortgat and Jesse Haas who won their doubles match, while Simon Arca Costas, Pedro Liborio, Moortgat and James Van Herzeele all picked up singles victories. Portland State played the match even though it was shorthanded, missing several players for various reasons, resulting in the Vikings defaulting one doubles and two singles matches.

"I feel like we played very good tennis today," said senior Arca Costas. "There are still things we need to improve on, but I feel like the team played together and played for each other. I feel like all the new guys did a great job, especially for their first match. They played with a lot of energy and came through for the team. They helped us to what I hope will be the first victory of many."

Leading 1-0 heading into doubles action, Boise State needed only to win one of the two contests that would be played. The Broncos split the two contests with Moortgat and Haas clinching the team point 2-1 after battling to a 7-5 victory over Oliver Richards and Oliver Fernandez on court one.

With an early 3-0 team score advantage (including the two singles defaults) as they turned to singles play, the Blue and Orange wasted little time getting the match clincher. Arca Costas, from Spain, brought home the victory for the Broncos after dispatching Portland State's Ting Hao Hsu 6-2, 6-3 at No. 1 singles. It was Arca Costas' team-leading 54th career victory.

"As for me, I felt very good out there today," Arca Costas said. "It has been a longtime since we played competitively in a tournament, two months ago. But I thought I played good tennis against a tough opponent to pick up the win."

Liborio, a freshman from Portugal, earned an easy victory on court two in his Boise State debut defeating Richards 6-1, 6-3. Moortgat, a sophomore from Plano, Texas, tallied a win in one of two matches that were decided with a pro-set tiebreaker in the third frame as he rallied from a set down to put away PSU's Sam De Vries 2-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-5).

Wrapping up the sweep for the Broncos was another newcomer, freshman James Van Herzeele from Thailand who also rallied after dropping the opening set to win 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-6) over Fernandez.

The Broncos, who improved to 1-0 on the year with the victory, will close out the opening weekend Saturday afternoon when they face the Pacific-12 Conference's Oregon Ducks.

Match Box
Boise State (1-0) def. Portland State (0-1) 7-0

Doubles Results
1.     Moortgat/Jesse Haas (BSU) def. Richards/Fernandez (PSU) 7-5
2.     Hao Hsu/DeVries (PSU) def. Marquardt/Arca Costas (BSU) 6-3
3.     Michael Bott/Ryo Minakata (BSU) won by default

Singles Results
1.     Simon Arca Costas (BSU) def. Ting Hao Hsu (PSU) 6-2, 6-3
2.     Pedro Liborio (BSU) def. Oliver Richards (PSU) 6-1, 6-3
3.     Caden Moortgat (BSU) def. Sam DeVries (PSU) 2-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-5)
4.     James Van Herzeele (BSU) def. Oliver Fernandez (PSU) 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-6)
5.     Jan Lucca Marquardt (BSU) won by default
6.     Ryo Minakata (BSU) won by default