Broncos Rally Past San Diego State in MW Opener

Friday, March 29

Boise, Idaho

1 p.m. MT

Boise State

San Diego State

3/29/2024 5:33:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

BOISE, Idaho – It came down to the last match of the day in Boise State men's tennis' 4-3 victory over San Diego State Friday afternoon in the Mountain West opener for both schools.

The Broncos won a classic collegiate tennis battle. The two teams traded leads, and down 3-2, Boise State rallied for the win.

The Blue and Orange claimed the team doubles point 2-0 over the Aztecs following wins by the No. 1 tandem of Sam Sippel and Jan Lucca Marquardt, 6-1, and the No. 2 team of Idriss Haddouch and Jip van Assendelft, 7-6(3).

After San Diego State rallied to take the lead at 2-1, Sippel brought the Broncos even with a three-set victory on court one. He rallied from a set down to win 10 straight games, winning set two 6-0 and taking a 4-0 lead in the third. He put it away after surrendering only one point in the final two sets, 5-7, 6-0, 6-1.

Down one after the Aztecs regained the lead at 3-2, Boise State's Haddouch tied it up when he put away SDSU's Alexander Mandma in three sets, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.

The match came down to a tiebreaker at No. 3 singles, where James Van Herzeele battled Eugenio Gonzalez for the decisive point. Van Herzeele rallied from a set down to defeat Gonzalez 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(4).

Quotables

"It was another ugly but gritty win for us. We came out flat after winning the doubles and lost five first sets," said head coach Luke Shields. "Give a lot of credit to a mature San Diego State team that came out with a sense of urgency. They pushed us and gave us a great fight. We responded after the first sets with resolve and got through three of the singles."
"Idriss (Haddouch) is catching fire," Shields said. James (Van Herzeele) is leading us in wins and has shown a lot of growth. Sam (Sippel) is showing his consistency and is now figuring out how to get to the finish line. There are always nerves in the first matches of the conference, so it's great to be 1-0!"

Notables

The 63rd-ranked Broncos improved to 13-9 overall, 1-0 in MW play and won their fifth consecutive match.
Marquardt and Sippel won their third No. 1 doubles match in two weeks, moving to 3-1 as a pair.
This spring, Haddouch and van Assendelft remain undefeated in doubles matches, improving to 3-0 in team duals.
Sippel's singles victory improved the 110th-ranked player in the nation to 14-14 overall and 7-8 at No. 1 singles.
Haddouch recorded his 17th singles victory of the year and extended his win streak to 12. He is now 17-10 overall and 13-1 in team duals this spring.
Van Herzeele won his team-high 19th singles victory, improving to 19-8 on the year and 13-3 in team duals.

What's Next

Boise State will continue Mountain West action next week on the road at Utah State on Saturday, the Broncos' lone match of the week.

Result

#63 Boise State 4, San Diego State 3
Doubles (Order of finish: 1,2)

Jan Lucca Marquardt/Sam Sippel (BSU) def. Alexander Mandma/Robin Parts (SDSU) 6-1
Idriss Haddouch/Jip van Assendelft (BSU) def. Eugenio Gonzalez/Johannes Seeman (SDSU) 7-6 (7-3)
John Chin/James Van Herzeele (BSU) vs. Bora Sengul/Chikaya Sato (SDSU) 6-5, unfinished