Montana
Eastern Washington
Grizzlies suffer first league loss 5-2 at Eastern Washington
3/6/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 6, 2011
In a Sunday afternoon shocker, The University of Montana men's tennis team suffered a 5-2 loss to Eastern Washington, a team picked fifth in January league preseason polls. With strong play from the gun in the Cheney match, the Eagles neutralized the Grizzlies at their strongest points, including wins over previously undefeated Grizzly Carl Kuschke at No. 1 singles and wins at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles, where the Grizzlies had lost only a single match all season.
Montana logged a slow start in doubles play, dropping all three matches to EWU opponents.
In singles play, UM senior Josh Smith and Grizzly newcomer Mikolaj Caruk were the only two Grizzlies to emerge from the Sunday matches victorious, taking singles wins at Nos. 2 and 5 respectively. The two narrowly lost in an 8-6 result at No. 2 doubles.
Smith, a fall standout who had experienced a three-loss streak in recent matches at No. 2, came out victorious in his Sunday dual, topping Eagle Julian Sanchez 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
Caruk won his match over Chad Henninger 7-6(2), 4-6, 10-7 to improve to 4-1 in the No. 5 position on the season.
With the advantage falling in the Eagle's direction, a three-set match was also played by Michael Facey at No. 3. The UM sophomore lost 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 after leading early on.
Following the match Sunday, UM coach Kris Nord said, "It's a loss to a good team , which just confirms that the Big Sky is going to be a battle. The fact is that we came in flat in the doubles today and there were a lot of close singles matches."
Smith described the Cheney atmosphere, saying, "We saw that EWU had lost to MSU yesterday. (A team that UM recently defeated 5-2 ). Eastern was pretty upset about that loss and they were very determined to win today. We took some comfort in yesterday's result and they took full advantage of our attitude. EWU came in much more prepared than we did and that was about the sum of it. They caught us off guard."
Eastern Washington's home field house has long been a major home-court advantage for Eagle teams. Montana has not taken a win there since 2007. The courts served the Eagles well Sunday. Smith said, "The facility was a major factor in the loss, but many indoor courts can be different. I hate to make excuses, though, it is our responsibility to adapt and we were very slow to do so today."
The Eagle's jumped to 3-1 for Big Sky play with the win, while the Grizzlies fell to 0-1 in league play. Though UM's loss may seem to spoil a run at the Big Sky championship, help from the MSU team's Saturday victory may create a situation much like 2010's final league standings, which put the Grizzlies in three-way tie for second at 6-2. Both the Eagles and the Grizzlies have yet to face the preseason Nos. 1 and 2 Sacramento State and Northern Arizona.
Tennis Match Results
Montana vs Eastern Washington
Mar 06, 2011 at Cheney, Wash.
Eastern Washington 5, Montana 2
Singles competition
1. MUSSOLINI, Fernando (EWU) def. Carl Kuschke (UM) 6-4, 6-2
2. Josh Smith (UM) def. SANCHEZ, Julian (EWU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
3. NAVARRO, Mario (EWU) def. Michael Facey (UM) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
4. SIMIKIC, Stefan (EWU) def. Andrew Warren (UM) 6-4, 6-3
5. Mikolaj Caruk (UM) def. HENNINGER, Chad (EWU) 7-6(2), 4-6, 10-7
6. KOETJE, Kyle (EWU) def. David Cysneiros (UM) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. SIMIKIC, Stefan/KOETJE, Kyle (EWU) def. Carl Kuschke/David Cysneiros (UM) 8-6
2. SANCHEZ, Julian/HENNINGER, Chad (EWU) def. Josh Smith/Mikolaj Caruk (UM) 8-6
3. ERIKSSON, Chris/RUSSELL, James (EWU) def. Ben Demarois/Andrew Warren (UM) 8-3
Match Notes:
Montana 3-2
Eastern Washington 6-6
