Men's tennis moves to 2-0 in conference

Sunday, March 25

Flagstaff, Ariz.

11:00 AM

Montana

Northern Arizona

3/25/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis

March 25, 2012

The Montana men's tennis team moved to 2-0 in conference with a 6-1 road win over Northern Arizona Sunday.

The Grizzlies (7-4, 2-0) got wins in the 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 singles spots and won the doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions. Northern Arizona (4-11, 1-4) won their lone point at the No. 3 position.

Carl Kuschke again put up a strong showing with a three-set win at the No. 1 spot over Robin Pezzuto 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. Michael Faceyalso scored a close three-set win over Patrick Schimmelbauer 6-7, 6-4, 10-6.

"The match was a Little closer than the final score showed," coach Kris Nordsaid. "Carl came through when he was down, Michael was also behind and came back for the win."

Even the Grizzlies' lone loss of the match was tightly contested, Andrew Warrenlost in three sets to Dominic Bermudez 3-6, 6-4, 7-6.

"Andrew had four match points but his opponent wouldn't let him close it out," Nord said.

The Griz also had to make adjustments to outdoor play. Wind was a big factor Saturday but Nord was satisfied with the way the team handled the environment.

"The weather was tough to deal with," Nord said. "It was very windy that has a huge effect on the ball and the altitude makes the ball travel much faster. I thought the guys played well considering the conditions."

The win keeps the Griz in the driver's seat for the playoffs. Four teams make the Big Sky Championship and at 2-0 the Griz are in the mix.

"This match keeps us in control to be one of the four teams in the championship," Nord said. "Now our focus will be on Idaho State and Weber State."

The Griz travel to face the Bengals and Wildcats next weekend and both teams are also in the thick of the conference race. Nord knows that his team will have to play great to come out of the weekend unscathed.

"It is not an easy trip by any means," Nord said. "Those two teams are very strong and have shown their ability in conference play, they won't fall easily."

Montana 6, Northern Arizona 1

Mar 25, 2012 at Flagstaff, Ariz. (Continental Country Club)

Singles Competition

Kuschke, Carl (UM) def. PEZZUTTO, Robin (NAU) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4

Caruk, Mikolaj (UM) def. WATERS, Shaun (NAU) 6-4, 6-4

BERMUDEZ, Dominic (NAU) def. Warren, Andrew (UM) 3-6, 6-4, 7-6

Facey, Michael (UM) def. SCHIMMELBAUER, Patrick (NAU) 6-7, 6-4, 10-6

Vaughn, Ethan (UM) def. MARTIN, Robert (NAU) 6-2, 7-5

Luczak, Andreas (UM) def. LANTZ, Ben (NAU) 1-6, 7-6, 6-2

Doubles Competition

Caruk, Mikolaj and Warren, Andrew (UM) def. WATERS, Shaun and UNGER, Trevor (NAU) 8-3

Facey, Michael and Vaughn, Ethan (UM) def. BERMUDEZ, Dominic and SCHIMMELBAUER, Patrick (NAU) 8-6