Montana
Montana State
Grizzlies take yet another must-win over MSU
4/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 15, 2011
The University of Montana men's tennis team moved from fifth to a third-place tie in the Big Sky standings with a Friday 4-3 win over league No. 3 Montana State in Bozeman. The Grizzlies, who improved to 10-7, 4-2 BSC vaulted the 8-12, 4-2 Bobcats by earning a head-to-head tiebreaker in a dramatic match held at the Anderson Bobcat Tennis Center.
Notably, play Friday was plagued by Grizzly suffering as Grizzly Nos. 1 and 2 Carl Kuschke and Josh Smith were afflicted by injury mid-match.
Montana took the doubles point with strong play by Grizzly doubles specialist David Cysneiros and partner Mikolaj Caruk as the two won 9-7 over Bobcats Diego Campos and Alberto Fuentes, as well as a premier showing by Grizzlies Andrew Warren and Ben DeMarois in an 8-5 win over the Bobcat Sivasubramaniam/Schleuter combo.
In singles action, Kuschke suffered a hip-flexor strain in the middle of his second set with Big Sky Player of the Week Pawel Turzanski. Kuschke said, "I was leading after the first set with a 7-5, 3-2 lead in the second when I suffered a strain. I definitely felt like I could win before that point, but with a competitor like Pawel, I really paid out there."
Smith took a similar injury-related loss, actually retiring from a match from which the UM senior trailed 5-7 and 2-0.
With UM's top player down-and-out, the pressure fell to the Grizzlies at Nos. 3-4. Mike Facey and Andrew Warren both were trailing after first-set loss, UM looked to be facing its first post-season exclusion in many years.
Assessing the situation, the Grizzlies rallied like never before. Freshman Mikolaj Caruk won in straight sets with a 6-1, 6-4 topping of Bobcat Campos, while Mike Facey took his last two sets with a 7-4 tiebreaker and a 6-3 victory at No. 3.
Warren then clinched the match with 6-1, 6-0 second and third sets for the UM win.
Following the Grizzly win, Coach Kris Nord said, "Facey definitely gets the game-ball tonight. Pulling off the tie-break and then the win was a way for him to really come through for the team."
Kuschke said, "Mikolaj, Andrew and Mike (Facey) all delivered it for us tonight. It was a must-win and they did just that. Though Mike's win in singles was great, Mikolaj showed some real drive as a freshman to play well in both doubles and singles. All of those guys delivered in a major way."
With the 4-3 win Friday, UM lives on to pursue its Big Sky Championship berth tomorrow against Weber State at 9 a.m. tomorrow, likely at the Peak Racquet club in Missoula.
Tennis Match Results
Montana State vs Montana
Apr 15, 2011 at Bozeman, Mont.
(Missoula, Mont.)
Montana 4, Montana State 3
Singles competition
1. TURZANSKI, Pawel (MSU) def. Kuschke, Carl (UM) 5-7, 6-3, 6-2
2. KEYES, Fletcher (MSU) def. Smith, Josh (UM) 7-5, 2-0, retired
3. Facey, Michael (UM) def. FUENTES, Albert (MSU) 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
4. Caruk, Mikolaj (UM) def. CAMPOS CONTRERAS, Di (MSU) 6-1, 6-4
5. Warren, Andrew (UM) def. SIVASUBARAMANIAM, Pr (MSU) 4-6, 6-1, 6-0
6. SCHLEUTER, Markus (MSU) def. Cysneiros, David (UM) 6-4, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. TURZANSKI, Pawel/KEYES, Fletcher (MSU) def. KUSCHKE, Carl/SMITH, Josh (UM) 8-5
2. CYSNEIROS, David/CARUK, Mikolaj (UM) def. CAMPOS CONTRERAS, Di/FUENTES, Albert (MSU) 9-7
3. WARREN, Andrew/DEMAROIS, Ben (UM) def. SIVASUBARAMANIAM, Pr/SCHLEUTER, Markus (MSU) 8-5
Match Notes:
Montana State 8-12, 4-2 BSC
Montana 10-7, 4-2 BSC
Players Mentioned
