Montana
Sacramento State
Griz lose to #59 Sacramento State
3/31/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 31, 2012
Two freshmen came away with singles victories as The University of Montana women's tennis team lost a hard fought effort to No. 59 Sacramento State, 5-2, in its first home match of the season at The Peak Health and Wellness Center Racquet Club in Missoula Saturday.
Precious Gbadamosi and Sasha Carter both won their singles matches and Montana (10-7, 3-2 BSC), as a team, played with a lot of emotion on their home surface. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to topple a very talented Sacramento State team. The Hornets move to 6-0 in the Big Sky Conference to stay on top of the Big Sky standings.
"The fire and intensity we brought is a trade mark of this team, said coach Steve Ascher. "We have played well against nationally ranked teams all season.
"We were excited to play Sacramento State at our home."
Sacramento State swept the doubles point but Montana played tough with the Nos. 1 and 2 matches each being decided by two games.
Mountain region No. 3 Heather Davidson and Laurence Pelchat dropped their doubles match to Tatsiana Kapshai and Rebeca Delgado 9-7 at No. 1. Montana made it a match when they broke Sacramento State's serve to bring it to 5-6 then tied it up at six all behind some strong serving from Pelchat. Games were traded until at 8-7 when the Hornets were able to break Montana to win the match and clinch the doubles point.
Carter and Maddy Murray also fought a hard fight at No. 2 losing 8-6. Montana was already down 2-0 in the doubles matches but Murray and Carter laid it all out and battled to come back. Carter and Murray were down 3-5 at one point but managed to hang in there eventually break the Hornets to make it 6-7 late in the match. The Hornets were not to be denied, however, breaking Carter's serve to take the match 8-6.
In singles Davidson lost to Tatsiana Kapshai at No. 1 in straight sets 6-1, 6-0, while Pelchat played a very spirited match versus Rebeca Delgado losing a tough first set 6-4 and dropping the second 6-2.
Freshman Sasha Carter won her match over Sophie Lohscheidt in straight sets. Carter had to earn her first set victory winning 7-2 in the tie breaker before cruising to a second set win 6-2.
"The match was really hard for me," exclaimed Carter. "I just tried to put aside the fact that Sacramento State had such a high ranking, and I just played t to win."
With the team totals at 3-1 all eyes were on sophomore Ashley Mackey's No. 3 match against Clarisse Baca. Mackey came out on fire smoking Baca 6-1 in the opening set. However, Mackey couldn't put Baca away in the second set losing 3-6.
Mackey found herself down 5-2 in the third set with not only the match, but the team dual on the line. Mackey held serve, broke Baca and held serve again to make it 4-5. Despite Mackey's determination and intensity she couldn't break Baca again and lost the third set 4-6.
"I was really pumped up for this match," said Mackey. "I do normally play with a lot of intensity but there was more focus in it today.
"We really wanted to come out here and make a statement."
Gbadamosi came out on fire winning her first set 6-1 but then dropping the second set badly 2-6. Gbadamosi then rallied back to win her super-breaker third set 10-6.
Sophomore Maddy Murray lost in two sets to Maria Meliuk 7-6, 6-0. Murray trailed for the whole first set before tying it at six-a-piece. Murray then pushed Meliuk through a marathon tie breaker with Meliuk finally winning 12-10. The breaker took all of the steam from Murray's play as she was swept in the second set 6-0.
Montana will play at home again against Northern Colorado Saturday at 2 p.m. (MT).
Montana Women's Tennis Results
#59 Sacramento State University 5, Montana 2
Mar 31, 2012 at Missoula, Mont. (The Peak Health Center Raquet Club)
Singles competition
1. KAPSHAI, Tatsiana (SAC) def. Davidson, Heather (UM) 6-1, 6-0
2. DELGADO, Rebeca (SAC) def. Pelchat, Laurence (UM) 6-4, 6-2
3. BACA, Clarisse (SAC) def. Mackey, Ashley (UM) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
4. Carter, Sasha (UM) def. LOHSCHEIDT, Sophie (SAC) 7-6 (7-2), 6-2
5. MELIUK, Maria (SAC) def. Murray, Maddy (UM) 7-6 (12-10), 6-0
6. Gbadamosi, Precious (UM) def. KNOEBL, Katharina (SAC) 6-1, 2-6, 10-6
Doubles competition
1. KAPSHAI, Tatsiana/DELGADO, Rebeca (SAC) def. DAVIDSON, Heather/PELCHAT, Laurence (UM) 9-7
2. KNOEBL, Katharina/LOHSCHEIDT, Sophie (SAC) def. MURRAY, Maddy/CARTER, Sasha (UM) 8-6
3. MELIUK, Maria/BACA, Clarisse (SAC) def. GBADAMOSI, Precious/MACKEY, Ashley (UM) 8-3
Match Notes
Sacramento State University 11-9, 6-0 BSC; National ranking #59
Montana 10-7, 3-2 BSC
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,4,2,3,6,5)
Official: Steve Schwartz
Players Mentioned
