Despite taking an early lead, the Stanford men’s tennis team could not maintain its momentum against Boise State this weekend. The No. 25 Broncos used this to their advantage and upset the No. 9 Cardinal, 5-1, on Saturday in Stanford’s home opener.

Because of a one-hour rain delay, the match adopted an alternate format. Saturday’s contest began with the top two singles matches followed by the next four singles competitions, instead of the usual doubles followed by singles, as the pace depended on how quickly the courts dried.

Sophomore All-American Matt Bruch returned to the lineup after recovering from an injury and played in the top spot for the Cardinal. Freshman Richard Wire played in his first dual match at Taube Tennis Center in the second singles position. After both players won their first sets, Stanford looked as if it was gaining momentum and ready to pick up the “W.”

In the first set, Bruch remained on serve until 3-3 and then broke No. 15 Luke Shields two times to pick up the first set, 6-3. Wire dominated No. 94 Clancy Shields, 6-1, in the first and effectively executed a one-two punch, combining a slice backhand followed by a put-away volley.

The four remaining singles matches hit the court partway through Bruch and Wire’s first sets. Despite Stanford’s early edge, Boise State gained the drive and ran with it.

“We got some momentum pretty quickly by getting two first sets,” head coach John Whitlinger said. “But boy, Boise State did a great job of turning that match around.”

Although both players won their first sets, Bruch and Wire dropped their second ones, making many more unforced errors than they did in their opening sets.

“I think [Matt] was making the right decisions a lot of times, but things were a little tougher for him than they usually are because he hasn’t played [in a while],” Whitlinger said. “Luke Shields is a very good player in his own right and just started making some more balls.”

Sophomore Blake Muller and freshman Paul Morrissey dropped identical 6-1 first sets at the third and fourth singles positions, respectively. Freshman Kevin Kaiser remained on serve until halfway through the opening set before his opponent closed out the first, 6-3.

Senior Eric McKean led 4-1 in the first, and although the captain’s opponent evened the score to 5-5, the Cardinal was able to claim the set, 7-5.

As the afternoon wore on and the sun disappeared behind the clouds, Stanford’s chances started to appear bleaker.

Muller was the first match off the court, losing 6-1, 6-2. Following match point, Muller’s opponent launched a ball into the stands and announced to his teammates that the first point was on the board for Boise State.

Wire’s match was the next to be completed, as he dropped a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 decision. In the second and third sets, Clancy Shields moved well and chased down many balls, pressuring the Stanford freshman to hit just one more volley each time and often forcing errors.

Brent Werbeck defeated Kaiser, 6-3, 6-3, to give Boise State a 3-0 lead, and Eric Roberson made it 4-0 with his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Morrissey.

After a string of service breaks from both players toward the end of the third, Bruch hit a return into the net to complete Luke Shields’ 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 win.

“I give a lot of credit to Boise State for making shots,” Whitlinger said. “But I think if you look at a lot of matches, we were really hurting ourselves with a lot of unforced errors. We just have to do a better job of that from top to bottom, and we will — we’ll get better at that. But to me, that was the key to the match, they made shots and we just missed a lot of balls, balls that to me were unforced.”

Boise State led Stanford 5-0, and all eyes turned to McKean’s singles match. Despite being down a break for part of the second set, McKean forced a tiebreaker and eventually picked up the breaker, 7-4, the set and the match.

“I knew Eric would [keep fighting],” Whitlinger said. “That’s just the type of player that he is. I think it shows the new guys on the team what it’s all about. That was a great statement by Eric to go out there and fight to get us one point.

“I hope our entire team learns from what Eric did,” Whitlinger continued. “Regardless of the situation, you want to go out and play the hardest and toughest that you can play. Eric sure showed that, and I’m really proud of him for that.”

Although the final outcome had already been decided, the doubles matches hit the court but were soon cut short due to rain. Stanford led the top two doubles matches by a service break but was down a break in the final singles match.

The Cardinal hit the court again next weekend when they travel to Los Angeles to take on No. 43 USC on Friday and No. 4 UCLA on Saturday.