Montana
Northern Arizona
Women's tennis falls to 'Jacks in Big Sky semifinal
4/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 24, 2011
The University of Montana women's tennis team fell 4-3 to Northern Arizona in a mid-night Big Sky semifinal match held at the Bobcat Tennis Center in Bozeman Saturday. With the match, three of the most successful Grizzly players in the past decade all shined, specifically seniors Whitney Paluch and Rebecca Bran, who pulled in strong wins over Lumberjack opponents.
The story of the match, which finished in the wee hours of Easter morning, was the rematch between UM senior Rebecca Bran and current Big Sky Player of the Week, Edit Suhajda at No. 1. Just a week before in the Missoula meeting between the two athletes, Bran fell 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 1 position. That result played a major part in the naming of Suhajda as POTW, and in the `Jacks' No. 2 finish in Big Sky standings.
Before the match-up Saturday, UM coach Steve Ascher said, "We will be mixing up the lineup a bit, namely with the addition of Regional No. 18 Amanda Bran at No. 5. As far as Rebecca Bran is concerned, I like her in that No. 1 spot again and she absolutely excels in these revenge-type situations."
With the Grizzly team falling flat in the doubles kick-off, Bran came in with a vengeance in her singles match, winning her first set 6-3. Suhajda responded with a 6-1 set of her own to split with Bran. The third set was a 7-6 battle between the two stars- a battle that Bran won with a 7-4 tiebreaker for her 49th and final win in Grizzly uniform.
Bran's win, combined with victories by Whitney Paluch and Heather Davidson, combined for a 3-2 UM advantage by 1:30 a.m.
Paluch defeated Yumi Hasegawa 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 3 position, which moved the Grizzly to 8-1 in Big Sky play. The win was also Paluch's 16th of the dual season, which established her as the decade-high UM win-leader in dual play.
Tying her own decade high-UM mark alongside Paluch was Heather Davidson, who's 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 3 over Malia Wahinepio tallied her 20th of the year. As a freshman, Davidson's 18 wins had set the decade-high mark.
The singles victories would be bittersweet in the match which ended in the Lumberjack's favor Sunday morning, with the Grizzlies finding similar post-season placing to the 2010 UM finish. Though UM fell for the second time in as many years to NAU in a Big Sky Tournament semifinal, the Lumberjacks required seven points of play in achieving that end Sunday, compared with the 4-0 victory that the Flagstaff team found in 2010.
Ascher said, "At this time, it is first important for us to get closure on a season where the team achieved so many of the things that you look to see in a top-level tennis program. That closure is especially important for our three seniors who were all vital cogs in the progress that we made this year. Following that, we will look forward to our next collegiate season, and address what needs to be done to continue our trajectory as individuals, as a team and as representatives of the University of Montana."
Big Sky Women's Semifinals -
#2 Northern Arizona vs. #3 Montana
Bobcat Tennis Center
Bozeman, Mont.
Northern Arizona 4, Montana 3
Doubles:
#1 Suhajda/Golovics (NAU) def. R. Bran/Paluch (UM), 8-3
#2 Wahinepio/Hasegawa (NAU) def. Gibson/Davidson (UM), 8-5
#3 Oki/Perez (NAU) led A. Bran/Alexander (UM), 6-3 DNF
(1,2,3)
Singles:
#1 R. Bran (UM) def. Edit Suhajda *NAU) 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (4)
#2 Golovics (NAU) def. Alexander (UM), 6-1, 6-2
#3 Paluch (UM) def. Hasegawa (NAU), 6-2, 6-2
#4 Davidson (UM) def. Wahinepio (NAU), 6-1, 6-1
#5 Perez (NAU) def. A. Bran (UM), 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
#6 Oki (NAU) def. Mackey (UM), 1-6, 6-2, 6-1
(4, 2, 3, 1, 6, 5)
Players Mentioned
