Women's tennis falls short in Aggie test
2/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
The University of Montana women???s tennis team dropped to 3-6 overall with a non-conference loss to Utah State Saturday in Logan, Utah. The ??4-3 Aggies outlasted the Grizzly squad, sweeping all seven points in the competition and winning eight of nine matches.
In the lone Montana victory of the afternoon, freshman Heather Davidson and junior Cara Lehman defeated Taylor Perry and Brittney Watts 8-5 at No. 3 doubles. The victory extended Davidson???s doubles streak to four and puts her overall spring doubles record at 7-2, playing between Nos. 1 and 3 with either Lehman or Rebecca Bran.
Close matches at Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 5 singles as well as No. 2 doubles made the loss difficult to stomach for the Grizzlies.
At No. 2 doubles, Constance Alexander and Kayla Moyse served at 6-7 against Aggies Monica Abella and Kristina Voysovich, though could not pull even, and eventually dropped the match 9-7.
In singles play, Alexander was within striking distance of 2009 WAC All-conference player Hailey Swenson, as the two played to a 7-5 first set with the Aggie at the advantage. The rigors of pacing with Swenson would take took their toll on the UM Freshman, though, leading to a ??2-6 loss in the second set.
Davidson, Moyse and Lauren Gibson would all recover from a loss in the first set to win the second. In each case, the Grizzly player would drop their third set, tiring well into the third hour of play.
Davidson would come closest to her opponent Voysovich at No. 3, losing her third set tiebreaker 4-7 to drop the set 6-7.
Following the long afternoon match, UM coach Steve Ascher said, ???It seemed like our girls all got themselves into a place within striking distance, but were not able to close out. Many of them played some competitive matches, but it???s hard to take a 7-0 loss when you are so close in so many situations.???
The Grizzlies will recoup on the drive to Pocatello Saturday evening, meeting 1-2 Idaho State, their third Big Sky opponent of the spring on Sunday morning. Idaho most recently played to a close, 4-3 win over North Dakota February 20. Sunday will be the Bengal Big Sky opener. ????????????
Tennis Match Results
Montana vs Utah State
Feb 27, 2010 at Logan, (Sports Academy and Racquet Club)
Utah State 7, Montana 0
Singles competition:
1. SWENSON, Hailey (USU) def. ALEXANDER, Constance (UM) 7-5, 6-2
2. WEST, Jaclyn (USU) def. BRAN, Amanda (UM) 6-3, 6-0
3. VOYTSEKHOVICH, Krist (USU) def. DAVIDSON, Heather (UM) 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7-4)
4. ABELLA, Monica (USU) def. MOYSE, Kayla (UM) 6-0, 3-6, 6-1
5. PERRY, Taylor (USU) def. GIBSON, Lauren (UM) 6-2, 1-6, 10-6
6. WATTS, Britney (USU) def. LEHMAN, Cara (UM) 6-4, 6-0
Doubles competition:
1. SWENSON, Hailey/WEST, Jaclyn (USU) def. BRAN, Amanda/GIBSON, Lauren (UM) 8-5
2. ABELLA, Monica/VOYTSEKHOVICH, Krist (USU) def. ALEXANDER, Constance/MOYSE, Kayla (UM) 9-7
3. DAVIDSON, Heather/LEHMAN, Cara (UM) def. PERRY, Taylor/WATTS, Britney (USU) 8-5
Match Notes:
Montana 3-6
Utah State 4-3
