Montana
Portland
Portland snaps Montana's winning streak
3/8/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 8, 2013
The Portland women's tennis team rallied from an early 1-0 deficit and defeated Montana 4-3 Friday afternoon in a tight match at UP's Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center in Portland, Ore. The loss snapped the Grizzlies' five-match winning streak.
A year ago when the two teams met on Portland's campus, the Pilots swept the doubles point, only to have Montana win four of six singles matches to pull out a 4-3 victory.
Friday was just the opposite. Montana (7-5) played well at doubles, including a pair of 8-4 victories, but Portland (6-6) took four of six singles points to even its season record at .500. Four of the six singles matches went to three sets.
"We had our chances against a Portland team that is better than the one we faced last year," UM coach Steve Ascher said. "We'll learn a lot from this match.
"It was nice to be in a close one. Last week (when we swept New Mexico, Idaho and Montana State in Bozeman) we played in three competitive matches, but they weren't necessarily close. I think we can use this to help us learn what it is going to take to pull these out down the line."
Montana wasted little time going up 1-0. Heather Davidson and Laurence Pelchat teamed up to win 8-4 at No. 1 doubles, and Haley Driver played with Precious Gbadamosi at No. 3 and won by the same score.
Sasha Carter and Maddy Murray went to a tiebreaker before winning 9-8 (4) at No. 2.
Portland won in straight sets at No. 1 and 2 over Davidson and Carter to take the lead. The Pilots extended their lead to 3-1 when Sabine Fuchs beat Driver in three sets at No. 3.
Pelchat and Gbadamosi won at No. 5 and 6, both in three sets, to even the match at 3-3, but Valeska Hoath pulled out a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 win over Ashley Mackey at No. 4 in the day's last match to give Portland the win.
"To get into so many three-set matches was good," Ascher continued. "We'll continue to learn about ourselves and how to stay mentally engaged in the longer matches and not get distracted by things that are not important to the match.
"It's the beauty of sports that we'll be able to use these experiences and get better at operating under pressure situations."
Montana will face Portland State Saturday at 2 p.m. (MT) at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash., in the teams' Big Sky Conference match. The Vikings lost to the Pilots earlier this season at the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center 6-1.
Montana is unbeaten through three Big Sky matches. Portland State, which is 6-6 overall, is 1-2.
Portland 4, Montana 3
March 8, 2013 at Portland, Ore. (Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Maja Mladenovic (POR) def. Heather Davidson (UM), 7-5, 6-3
2. Nastya Polyakova (POR) def. Sasha Carter (UM), 7-5, 6-4
3. Sabine Fuchs (POR) def. Haley Driver (UM), 6-0, 5-7, 6-3
4. Valeska Hoath (POR) def. Ashley Mackey (UM), 6-3, 1-6, 6-3
5. Laurence Pelchat (UM) def. Tori Troesch (POR), 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
6. Precious Gbadamosi (UM) def. Saroop Dhatt (POR), 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Heather Davidson/Laurence Pelchat (UM) def. Valeska Hoath/Tori Troesch (POR), 8-4
2. Maddy Murray/Sasha Carter (UM) def. Anastasia Polyakova/Sabine Fuchs (POR), 9-8 (4)
3. Haley Driver/Precious Gbadamosi def. Maja Mladenovic/Milagros Cubelli (POR), 8-4
Match Notes
Montana: 7-5
Portland: 6-6
Order of finish
Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (2,1,3,5,6,4)
Players Mentioned
