Montana
Portland
Pilots take 6-1 win over Grizzly men's tennis
3/11/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 11, 2011
The University of Montana men's tennis team took its second consecutive loss Friday, falling 6-1 to a Portland squad that has taken only a single loss in dual play this season. Montana moved to 3-3 overall and faces a Saturday double-header vs. both Seattle and Texas-San Antonio.
Play Friday started with the Grizzlies executing two close 8-6 matches at Nos. 1 and 2 as well as a 8-5 loss at No.3
The UM doubles teams that fans have seen since January were mixed for the first time since the Griz opened dual play, with the 11-win combination of David Cysneiros and Carl Kuschke separating for the first time this year. Kuschke combined at No. 1 with 2010 partner Josh Smith, who went 5-5 with his fellow South African last spring for UM. Cysneiros combined with Grizzly newcomer Mikolaj Caruk for the first time at No. 2, while Michael Facey and Andrew Warren combined for the second time at No. 3.
In singles play, Smith pulled in the only Grizzly win of the day with a three set defeat of Geoff Hernandez. The Pilot led early with a 6-2 first set win, only to have Smith come from behind with 6-3, and 7-5 second and third sets for his second consecutive win.
Following the match, Smith said, "I had beaten my opponent once before (In Eastern Washington's fall invitational quarterfinal) and I did have some confidence from that win. As it turned out, the match today was quite a bit closer than that fall match.
"I had a hard time at first. Between my second and third sets, my teammate David Cysneiros came over and pointed out something that I was having trouble seeing for myself. After that, I changed my game plan. I started hitting higher balls to his backhand. It made us play much longer volleys, but it became more than just two guys trying to hit one another off the court."
Regarding the team loss, Smith said, "For a few of us, it was just a bad day out there and that does happen. No one played badly, we just came up against a very good team. We need to take this from the angle telling us that we need to improve, rather than dwelling upon a loss that is in our past."
The Grizzlies will play Seattle at 10 a.m. (MT) and then UTSA at 5 p.m. (MT) Saturday.
Tennis Match Results
Montana vs Portland
Mar 11, 2011 at Portland, Ore.
Portland 6, Montana 1
Singles competition
1. FERRERO, Alex (UP) def. Carl Kuschke (UM) 6-2, 6-3
2. Josh Smith (UM) def. HERNANDEZ, Geoff (UP) 2-6, 6-3, 7-5
3. THORPE, Bryan (UP) def. Michael Facey (UM) 6-2, 6-2
4. HU KWO, Michel (UP) def. Mikolaj Caruk (UM) 6-2, 6-3
5. GILL, Ratan (UP) def. Andrew Warren (UM) 6-4, 6-4
6. GUAY, Justin (UP) def. Ethan Vaughn (UM) 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (8-6)
Doubles competition
1. FERRERO, Alex/HERNANDEZ, Geoff (UP) def. Josh Smith/Carl Kuschke (UM) 8-6
2. HU KWO, Michel/GUAY, Justin (UP) def. Mikolaj Caruk/David Cysneiros (UM) 8-6
3. THORPE, Bryan/WALES, Nick (UP) def. Michael Facey/Andrew Warren (UM) 8-3
Match Notes:
Montana 3-3
Portland 8-1
