Montana
Utah
Kuschke racks up 4-0 weekend record
1/29/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Jan. 29, 2011
With the University of Montana men's tennis team dropping a 5-2 match at Utah Saturday, Grizzly junior Carl Kuschke took wins at both singles and doubles, improving to a 4-0 record while Montana is split at 1-1. Montana took the doubles point against the Utes, though dropped five of six singles points.
With an 8-3 win at No. 1 doubles over Dymtro Mamedov and Gino Octa, senior David Cysneiros and two-time Big Sky Player of the Week Kuschke improved to 2-0 in the No. 1 spot for the season, out-gaming opponents 16-5 along the way.
The Grizzlies also took a win at No.2 doubles with senior Josh Smith and freshman Mikolaj Caruk getting the best of Alejandro Medinilla and Devin Lane with an 8-5 win. The victory elevated the two to a 2-0 record as well.
Following play Saturday night in Salt Lake, Kuschke said, "In our match, Dave (Cysneiros) and I just came out firing, going up three-love. We then kept it going for the win. Our No. 2 team also played extremely well, with Josh (Smith) and Mik (Caruk) finishing out some important points and showing that our practice time has really made the difference."
Noting the UM doubles improvement over 2010, Kuschke said, "Kris (Nord) has put a very serious focus on our team improving in doubles. For this season, we have changed our mentality really, focusing on every single point. In the past, we experienced a lot of fluctuations among the teams within each match. We have also benefitted a lot from more doubles-specific sets in practice."
With a 1-0 lead Saturday, the Grizzlies dropped five singles matches vs. Utah opponents, with Kuschke breaking the three-match winning streak of Ute Benito Suriano for the last result of the evening. Though his team was down, Kuschke pushed to a three-set win at No. 1, winning 7-6, 5-7 and then claiming the super-breaker 10-8.
Kuschke said, "I really need to commend my teammates for playing hard across the board against a tough team. I am incredibly happy with how I played this weekend, both in singles and with Dave (Cysneiros). My opponent tonight was a tough player and the match a real challenge."
With early season play out of the way, the Grizzlies will take two weeks off from competition, returning to play Feb. 12 against the Idaho team that started at No. 73 according to early Jan. ITA rankings.
Tennis Match Results
Montana vs Utah
Jan 29, 2011 at Salt Lake City
(Eccles Tennis Center)
Utah 5, Montana 2
Singles competition
1. Carl Kuschke (UM) def. Benito Suriano (UU) 7-6, 5-7, 10-8
2. Dmytro Mamedov (UU) def. Josh Smith (UM) 6-2, 6-4
3. Devin Lane (UU) def. Michael Facey (UM) 6-1, 6-3
4. Alejandro Medinilla (UU) def. Mikolaj Caruk (UM) 6-3, 6-4
5. Matt Cowley (UU) def. David Cysneiros (UM) 6-4, 6-3
6. Gino Octa (UU) def. Ethan Vaughn (UM) 6-1, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. Carl Kuschke/David Cysneiros (UM) def. Dmytro Mamedov/Gino Octa (UU) 8-3
2. Josh Smith/Mikolaj Caruk (UM) def. Alejandro Medinilla/Devin Lane (UU) 8-5
3. Benito Suriano/Matt Cowley (UU) def. Ben Demarois/Michael Facey (UM) 8-4
Match Notes:
Montana (1-1) Utah (2-1)
