Broncos Rally Past Oregon at ITA Kickoff

Saturday, January 27

Columbus, Ohio

11 a.m. MT

Boise State

Oregon

Sam Sippel waits to return a volley against Idaho State in 2023.

1/27/2024 5:09:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Boise State's men's tennis team rallied from 2-0 down to knockoff the Oregon Ducks 4-3 in the opening round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Columbus, Ohio, Saturday afternoon. The win kept the Broncos undefeated on the season at 3-0 and set up a collision with top-ranked Ohio State (5-0) on Sunday morning.

Oregon jumped out to the early lead, claiming a tight doubles point from the Broncos 2-1. Sam Sippel and Jip van Assendelft put the Blue and Orange up 1-0 with a 6-3 score on court one. After the Ducks tied the score at 1-1, it came down to No. 3 doubles, where Oregon's Avi Shugar and Vlad Breazu edged the Broncos' John Chin and Jett Middleton 6-4.

Singles was a battle throughout with the Broncos winning three first-set tiebreakers, and four of the contests going to three sets. The decisive victory was decided 12-10 in a third-set tiebreaker.

Trailing 2-0, Boise State rallied to tie the score at 2-2 when No. 40 Sippel defeated 66th-ranked Quinn Vandecasteele at No. 1 singles. The senior rallied from 5-1 down in set one to tie it up and force it to a tiebreaker, where he won 8-6; he then went on to take the second set 6-3.

Van Assendelft tied the team score when he rallied from a set down to take the match in three 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 at No. 2 singles.

After Oregon regained the lead at 3-2, James Van Herzeele tied it at 3-3 with a 7-6(4), 1-6, 6-3 victory at No. 3 singles.

Jett Middleton brought the win home with a hard-fought third-set tiebreaker in the final contest. Middleton won set one with a 7-4 tiebreaker, then after Oregon's Lenn Luemkemann tied the match, the Bronco edged out the Duck in the third with a 12-10 tiebreaker to win 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(10).

Quotables

"This was one of the craziest college matches I've ever been a part of," said head coach Luke Shields. "It was a huge win for this squad. We had opportunities in doubles but didn't get to the finish line. In singles, we started slow but clawed our way back; getting three first-set tiebreaks was huge. We were competitive in every match, and that was the key. Jett played courageously to get to the finish line. Great team win!"

Notables

The win was the first for the Broncos at the ITA Kickoff since they defeated San Francisco 4-3 in 2016 at College Station, Texas.
The win snaps a five-match losing streak to Oregon and improves Boise State's series lead to 16-6 since 1988.
Middleton won his 11th (11-5) singles match of the year, a team-high.
Van Assendelft joined the 10-wins club and is now 10-2 on the year.

What's Next

Boise State will face No. 1 Ohio State – who defeated Vanderbilt 4-0 on Saturday – on Sunday at 10 a.m. (Mountain).

Scoring

ITA Kickoff Weekend
Boise State (3-0) vs. Oregon (3-1)
Columbus, Ohio (OSU Ty Tucker Center)

Doubles (Order of finish: 1,2,3)

Sam Sippel/Jip van Assendelft (BSU) def. Quinn Vandecasteele/Matthew Burton (UO) 6-3
David Cierny/Ray Lo (UO) def. Caden Moortgat/Jan Lucca Marquardt (BSU) 6-3
Avi Shugar/Vlad Breazu (UO) def. John Chin/Jett Middleton (BSU) 6-4