Montana
Northern Arizona
Kohlmoos clinches must-win for Montana
4/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 16, 2011
With its No. 1 and 2 players benched with injuries Saturday, the University of Montana men's tennis team played to a courageous 4-3 result vs. Big Sky No. 2 Northern Arizona at Missoula's Peak Racquet Club.
Both Carl Kuschke and Josh Smith decided to sit the match out after warming up Saturday afternoon, citing minor injuries sustained in Friday's victory over Montana State. Kuschke said, "We have a situation where we need to win one of these two matches, and with an extra day to recover, Weber State is where it made the most sense to push through these injuries."
In opening doubles play, Montana represented its well-stocked roster with an 8-6 win by Mike Facey and Andrew Warren at No. 2 over Lumberjacks Robin Pezzutto and David Flodberg.
In the No. 1 match, senior David Cysneiros and Mikolaj Caruk stepped into the No.1 spot with a 4-0 Big Sky record, but fell 8-6 behind `Jacks Dominic Bermudez and Hugo Ramadier.
At No. 3, Ben DeMarois and Zach Drost fell 8-5 in what was also a competitive showing for UM.
In singles play, Montana faltered early on with Facey, Caruk and Cysneiros all dropping first sets. Andrew Warren put the Grizzlies on the board with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Pezzutto.
Following Warren's win, Ethan Vaughn stepped in at No. 5, jumping to an early lead. Caruk and Facey both battled back to 7-5 second-set wins, while Cysneiros fell in straight sets at No. 4.
A 6-3 third set win by Caruk brought the team score to 2-2. Facey dropped a tiebreaker in his third set 5-7, allowing the Lumberjacks to extend to a 3-2 lead. Vaughn won his second set 6-3, tying the team score.
The only remaining match of the day was the No. 6 match of Cody Kohlmoos, who's dual season experience has been limited to a straight-set loss vs. Texas-San Antonio. The junior rallied to win his first set 7-5, and then lost his second set 6-1. In the third and final set, Kohlmoos logged a 6-3 win over his powerful opponent for the clinching point of the match.
Post-match Kohlmoos said, "I'm tired and I'm stoked to have pulled through for the team. It was really all for them, especially through that last set.
"The team victory and my victory today showed that we have a lot of guys on this team that can play tennis, no matter who the opponent is. Losing your top two guys and having everyone move up is a real challenge. Ethan Vaughn is another guy who doesn't get to play a whole lot and he absolutely rocked it at No. 5. That's why we are here, to represent the team well.
"In my match, (coach) Kris (Nord) came over and told me that that match was the reason that I had run all of those stairs, why I had worked so hard. I feel like what I have is fitness that is better than just about anyone. Out there I just ran harder than I have ever run before, not letting any balls to get away. I knew that if we were going to grind it out and if I could just keep running, eventually I could pull it off."
The Grizzlies moved to 5-2 in Big Sky play, which puts the team into a tie for second with Northern Arizona and Montana State. Depending upon Sunday match results around the Big Sky, Montana will finish no lower than a tie for third place in the league standings. If the Grizzlies lose to Weber State in Sunday's 11 a.m. match, the Grizzlies can still miss out on a Big Sky Championship slot, based on a constellation of tie-break situations that will unfold in league play Sunday.
Tennis Match Results Northern Arizona vs Montana Apr 16, 2011 at Missoula, Mont.
Montana 4, Northern Arizona 3
Singles competition 1. RAMADIER, Hugo (NAU) def. Facey, Michael (UM) 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5) 2. Caruk, Mikolaj (UM) def. SCHIMMELBAUER, P (NAU) 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 3. Warren, Andrew (UM) def. PEZZUTTO, Robin (NAU) 6-3, 6-2 4. FLODBERG, David (NAU) def. Cysneiros, David (UM) 6-3, 6-2 5. Vaughn, Ethan (UM) def. BERMUDEZ, Dominic (NAU) 6-4, 6-3 6. Kohlmoos, Cody (UM) def. BROWN, Josh (NAU) 7-5, 1-6, 6-3
Doubles competition 1. BERMUDEZ, Dominic/RAMADIER, Hugo (NAU) def. CYSNEIROS, David/CARUK, Mikolaj (UM) 8-6 2. WARREN, Andrew/FACEY, Michael (UM) def. PEZZUTTO, Robin/FLODBERG, David (NAU) 8-6 3. SCHIMMELBAUER, P/LANTZ, Ben (NAU) def. DEMAROIS, Ben/Zach Drost (UM) 8-5
Match Notes: Northern Arizona 7-11, 5-2 BSC Montana 11-7, 5-2 BSC
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (3,4,1,2,5,6)
Players Mentioned
