Courtesy of Boise State Athletics – 

LAS VEGAS – On Wednesday, the defending Mountain West tournament champions, the Boise State Broncos, opened their title defense with a 4-0 victory over Air Force at the Darling Tennis Center in Las Vegas.

The Broncos opened the match with a pair of dominating doubles victories to claim the team point and take an early advantage. Idriss Haddouch and Jip van Assendelft swept their opponents 6-0 at the third position, followed by Caden Moortgat and Jett Middleton, who won 6-2 on court two, clinching the team point.

Haddouch spotted the Broncos a quick 2-0 lead as he rolled to a straight-set 6-3, 6-2 win on court five in singles play. John Chin followed with a two-set win of his own, 6-1, 6-4, at No. 6 singles to pull Boise State within one of victory up 3-0.

Jan Lucca Marquardt closed it out with a hard-fought 7-6(3), 6-4 victory at No. 4 singles, handing the Blue and Orange a 4-0 sweep of the Falcons.

Quotables

“It was great to sink our teeth into the tournament,” head coach Luke Shields said. “With the tough conditions and the quality of tennis, this was not our best match, but we found a way to get through. Air Force always comes out and plays hard, so getting through this match is good. We are going to have to be willing to play ugly and scrappy tennis this week to get the job done.”   

Notables

  • The win improved the Broncos’ record to 18-10 overall. They have won five straight and 11 of their last 12 contests.
  • The defending MW tournament champions have now won four straight matches at the event overall, including last year’s 3-0 run.
  • The Broncos move into their seventh MW Championship semifinal round all-time, where they are 6-0.
  • The doubles teams of Haddouch and van Assendelft (5-3) and Moortgat and Middleton (5-2) recorded their fifth wins of the season.
  • Haddouch’s 18th consecutive singles victory improved him to 23-10 overall and 19-1 in duals.
  • Chin won his fourth straight singles contest to improve to 17-11 overall and 13-6 in duals.
  • Marquardt recorded his 16th singles victory of the season, improving to 16-13 overall and 9-6 in duals.

What’s Next

Boise State will play New Mexico in Thursday’s semifinal round at 6 p.m. MT. The Lobos defeated UNLV 4-0 on Wednesday.

Results

Mountain West Championship, First Round
No. 57 Boise State (18-10) def. Air Force (6-14) 4-0
Doubles (Order of finish: 3,2)

  1. Sam Sippel/Jan Lucca Marquardt (BSU) vs. Jack Brown/Arjun Kersten (AFA) 4-4 DNF
  2. Caden Moortgat/Jett Middleton (BSU) def. Tyler Leaird/AJ Moore (AFA) 6-2
  3. Idriss Haddouch/Jip van Assendelft (BSU) def. Alec Fritzinger/Nick Vroman (AFA) 6-0

Singles (Order of finish: 5,6,4)

  1. Sam Sippel (BSU) vs. Arjun Kersten (AFA) 7-5, 4-4 DNF
  2. Jip van Assendelft (BSU) vs. AJ Moore (AFA) 0-6, 6-3, 3-2 DNF
  3. James Van Herzeele (BSU) vs. Alec Fritzinger (AFA) 4-6, 6-5 DNF
  4. Jan Lucca Marquardt (BSU) def. Jack Brown (AFA) 7-6(3), 6-4
  5. Idriss Haddouch (BSU) def. Tyler Leaird (AFA) 6-3, 6-2
  6. John Chin (BSU) def. Nick Vroman (AFA) 6-1, 6-4