Frustration and intense emotion took hold of senior Matt Jones, resulting in a season-ending suspension handed down by head coach Sherif Zaher after men’s tennis suffered its seventh loss of the season to Montana State 4-3 at the Rio Del Oro Racquet Club on Friday.

“It was impermissible behavior that will not be tolerated on any college team,” Zaher said.

Jones’ impermissible behavior came after Montana State junior Marek Gebicki secured his school’s victory as he defeated Jones 7-6, 3-6, 7-5 in the game-deciding match.

“It was against our rivals. It was a big match and it came down to me. I just wasn’t able to come through. It was a close match, and I had many opportunities but wasn’t able to capitalize. It was a tough loss,” Jones said.

Tony Morris, the United States Tennis Association official, said Jones threw his racquet over the fence near court two and was later seen punching the bench.

“I got upset because it was a big match that we needed to win; I just got upset,” Jones said. “I’m a very intense person and it’s just a tough time for me right now.”

Multiple warnings and previous suspensions didn’t stop Jones from acting out after his loss on Friday and Zaher, Jones’ former doubles partner, knew that the decision was one that he had to make.

“It just hurts to see that I have to pull the plug on someone, but if that’s what I have to do for the benefit of the team I have to do it,” Zaher said.

The loss to Montana State was the first loss against a Big Sky opponent this season and also snapped a four-game winning streak by the Hornets. Jones was 6-5 in singles play for the season and had gone 8-2 with doubles partner Peter Farkas before being suspended. Farkas’ first match without his doubles partner came soon after the news that Jones was off the team.

On Saturday the Hornets faced San Francisco and fell 4-3 in their first match without Jones. Farkas — Jones’ doubles partner up until the suspension — partnered with sophomore Joakim Rydberg against USF’s Pablo Pires de Almeida and Philip Riise-Hanssen and lost 8-6.

History repeated itself on Sunday with a 4-3 loss to Portland.

The two losses put the Hornets at 8-9 for the season.

Farkas, the lone remaining senior on the team, declined to comment on Jones’ situation, but did say that the team is working through it and that they must now focus on winning the Big Sky Conference.

“We’re fighting hard, but just falling a bit short,” Farkas said. “On a positive note, we see that we are right there in every match and even when we lose, all the guys are fighting in every match.”

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Armando Botello II can be reached at [email protected]