Montana
Eastern Washington
Griz get closer to BSC tournament with win over Eagles
4/13/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 13, 2012
The University of Montana women's tennis team (11-4, 5-2 BSC) moved one step closer to the Big Sky Conference Championships Friday with a decisive 6-1 win over Eastern Washington (4-14, 2-5 BSC) at the Peak Health and Wellness Center Racquet Club in south Missoula.
Montana will likely take the third seed in the conference tournament with either a win against Montana State Sunday or a Northern Colorado loss to undefeated Sacramento State.
Montana swept the doubles point winning 8-1 and 8-0 at matches one and two.
Senior Lauren Gibson and freshman Precious Gbadamosi played a tight match at No. 3 pulling it out in the end 8-5. The Montana pair was down 3-4 then held serve and broke Chelsea Patton and Kelsey Knight to take the lead 5-4. Both teams broke each other again in the next two games putting Montana up 6-5. Then, behind Gbadamosi's serve, Montana held and broke the Eagles in the next game to take the match 8-5, completing the sweep.
Freshman Sasha Carter was the first Grizzly to reach victory with her speedy defeat of Kelsey Knight 6-2, 6-0 at No. 4. Soon to follow was freshman Laurence Pelchat and junior Heather Davidson each with two-set wins at Nos. 2 and 1.
At No. 3 Chrissy Uriarte captured the Eagles only point defeating Montana sophomore Ashley Mackey 7-6(4), 6-3. Mackey led 6-5 in the first set but couldn't break Uriarte for the first-set win. Uriarte fought to make it 6-6 then went on to win the tie breaker 7-4. In the second set Mackey trailed from the very start and lost 3-6 to end the match.
Rounding out the Grizzly lineup sophomore Maddy Murray and freshman Precious Gbadamosi also won their matches in straight sets at No. 5 and 6.
Montana will play its last regular season conference match of the season against Montana State Sunday at 9 a.m. at the Peak Racquet Club. Montana State will play Eastern Washington in Bozeman Saturday, before heading to Missoula. The Bobcats need to defeat Eastern Washington and Montana as well as needing Northern Colorado to defeat Sacramento State to gain a spot in the conference tournament Apr. 22-24 in Gold River, Calif.
Live coverage for Sunday's match will be provided on GoGriz.com as well as results and a full recap after competition concludes.
Montana 6, Eastern Washington 1
Apr 13, 2012 at Missoula, Mont. (The Peak Racquet Club)
Singles competition
1. Davidson, Heather (UM) def. HEDBERG, Moira (EWU) 6-3, 6-3
2. Pelchat, Laurence (UM) def. PATTON, Chelsea (EWU) 6-2, 6-3
3. URIARTE, Chrissy (EWU) def. Mackey, Ashley (UM) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
4. Carter, Sasha (UM) def. KNIGHT, Kelsey (EWU) 6-2, 6-0
5. Murray, Maddy (UM) def. WARNER, Ryann (EWU) 6-2, 6-0
6. Gbadamosi, Precious (UM) def. NORENA, Rocio (EWU) 6-0, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. DAVIDSON, Heather/PELCHAT, Laurence (UM) def. HEDBERG, Moira/URIARTE, Chrissy (EWU) 8-1
2. CARTER, Sasha/MURRAY, Maddy (UM) def. WARNER, Ryann/NORENA, Rocio (EWU) 8-0
3. GBADAMOSI, Precious/GIBSON, Lauren (UM) def. PATTON, Chelsea/KNIGHT, Kelsey (EWU) 8-5
Match Notes
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,2,1,6,3,5)
Official: Steve Schwartz
Players Mentioned
