UM upsets Idaho 4-3 on Cysneiros two-set clincher

Saturday, February 12

Missoula, Mont.

10:00 AM

Montana

Idaho

Cysneiros took the clincher in a 7-5 tiebreaker

2/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis

The University of Montana men's tennis team topped preseason No. 73 Idaho 4-3 Saturday in an intense home match at The Peak Racquet Club in Missoula. Highlighting play were a three-set victory over ITA No. 56 Marius Cirstea by Carl Kuschke and a Grizzly doubles win at No. 2 by Josh Smith and Mikolaj Caruk over an 8-0 Vandal duo.

The 2010 meeting between UM and Idaho led to a 7-0 clobbering at the hands of the Vandal team. The 2011 meeting would be a stark difference.

In doubles play, Grizzly teams fought hard, with Montana leading at Nos. 2 and 3 early on. In the end, the Idaho squads, which had each claimed fall tournament championship honors, surged past the Grizzlies, winning at Nos. 1 and 3 for the doubles point.

With UM down 1-0, senior Josh Smith and freshman Mikolaj Caruk pulled off a 9-7 win over vandals Lachlan Reed and Jose Bendeck. 

While the win a No. 2 may not have seemed like a significant Grizzly achievement, it is worth noting that Reed and Bendeck had started their season at 8-0 for Idaho. The early victory showed that the unbeatable regional power could be broken.

With four courts in use at The Peak, Grizzlies went to work at Nos. 1-4. Smith was the first to fall, dropping a straight-set match to Reed. With Grizzlies Kuschke and Mike Facey falling in their first sets at Nos. 1 and 3 respectively, it appeared as though the Vandals would take a quick, four-point win in the dual match.

UM sophomore Andrew Warren, after topping Bendeck in his first set, staged a come-from-behind rally to win his second 7-5, putting the Grizzlies on the board 1-2.

Following Warren's victory, Facey would make a brief come-back, though still fell to Alexandru Joitoiu 6-2, 6-4.  The score was UI-3, UM-1.

With Montana needing to win its three remaining matches, a shift occurred. Caruk broke the serve of Alan Shin, moving to a 3-0 lead in his first set.

With Caruk looking strong, Kuschke found his stride against No. 56 Marius Cirstea, who had powered to a 6-3 win in the first set. Kuschke, down a 4-5 clawed through some tough volleys against Cirstea's serve and unforgiving backhand powers to break the Vandal and pull to 5-6.

Kuschke held serve, and took the 7-5 tiebreaker to pull even at 1-1 against Cirstea.

Caruk, though down in his second set, climbed back on, winning 6-3 over Shin, who had taken the Eastern Washington Fall Invitational Championship earlier in the season. Idaho held a slim 3-2 team lead as senior David Cysneiros took the court for his No. 6 match, with Kuschke beginning his third set at No. 1.

In a momentous final set, Kuschke upset Cirstea 6-1 to tie the score three-all.

Cysneiros went up with a strong 6-2 first set, though trailed in his second as Vandal Abid Akbar placed a variety of perfect lobs over the head of the 5-8 Grizzly, while also subjecting the UM veteran to a series of forehand finishers.

Though elated by his win, Kuschke refused to make comment until after his teammate's match.
Cysneiros would twice break Akbar's serve as he earned a second set tie-breaker for the win and clinching point of the match. The Grizzly prevailed, playing to a 7-5 tiebreaker.

Following what has to be the most notable UM nonconference win in many years, Kuschke said, "I entered my match not worrying about rankings, records or even what had happened before. I just came in to play my very best.

"I was down 4-2 in the second set, when I started returning a little better. As things improved for me there, the rest of my game followed, with me eventually breaking his serve. After picking it up, I found momentum through the breaker and then held out through the final set, just limiting my mistakes."

Cysneiros, who was the appropriate UM closer against "Goliath" opponent Idaho, deferred his achievement to the team, saying, "It just shows that we can compete with anybody. We have some real talent her at Montana and a ranking is just a number.

"We have been fortunate enough to get some better quality training here at The Peak, which accounts for a lot of our improvement.

"Everyone played great today. I have found myself here before, fighting for the match because I usually play at five or six, which means that you start later on. I have been on both sides of that tough position and, as a senior, I have learned from many losses. I was glad to have the support of my entire team, and all of the home fans. It is important to remember though, that four guys took hard wins today and that the entire team competed well. From the step up in doubles by guys like Ben (Demarois) and Josh (Smith), a great fight when behind by Mike (Facey), and to the four matches where we found singles wins, It was a huge team win today."

The Grizzlies face Montana State Sunday at The Peak, starting at 10:00 a.m. Montana State took on a haggard Vandal team Saturday evening. Follow the match via live updates at gogriz.com, or follow the undefeated Kuschke at No. 1 at ckgriztennis via Twitter.

Tennis Match Results