Gbadamosi named Big Sky Player of the Week
4/9/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 9, 2013
Why is the Montana women's tennis team alone in second place in the Big Sky Conference and slowly closing the gap on league heavyweight Sacramento State? Quality depth.
One way of measuring the quality of that depth? Griz sophomore Precious Gbadamosi was named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week on Tuesday. In doing so, she becomes the sixth player on the Grizzlies' current roster to be so honored by the Big Sky during their career.
Considering Montana goes seven deep in its spring lineup for singles and doubles, it makes for an impressive player-to-player-of-the-week ratio.
Gbadamosi, of Houston, Texas, was recognized by the Big Sky for her role in helping Montana go 4-0 last week, with one 7-0 sweep, a pair of 6-1 wins and one 5-2 victory.
The Grizzlies opened the week with a road sweep of Eastern Washington (6-1) and Gonzaga (5-2) Tuesday and Wednesday, won their home opener Saturday over Weber State (7-0), then won a showdown Sunday against Northern Arizona (6-1), which entered the match tied with Montana in the league standings.
Gbadamosi went 4-0 in singles in the four matches, all at No. 5, with three wins coming in straight sets, and 3-1 at No. 3 doubles while being paired with Driver.
Her singles wins included a 7-5, 6-4 victory Sunday over the Lumberjacks' Alice Pacaut that snapped Pacaut's seven-match winning streak and extended Gbadamosi's streak to 13.
Gbadamosi and Driver picked up doubles wins against the Eagles, Bulldogs and Wildcats to extend their winning streak to 12. That streak came to an end Sunday with an 8-4 loss to Northern Arizona.
Gbadamosi is 15-3 in singles matches this spring, with a perfect 8-0 mark in Big Sky play. She is 14-5 in doubles, 6-2 in league. Her two-year record, which includes the fall tournament season, is 47-16 in singles and 39-20 in doubles.
"This is another incredible season Precious is putting together in terms of her consistency," UM coach Steve Ascher said.
"To win 13 straight singles matches with our harder schedule this year while playing a spot higher in the lineup shows incredible consistency. She could be playing higher in the lineup, there is no question about that."
Gbadamosi and Driver were first paired together for Montana's 7-0 win at Northern Colorado on Feb. 23. They've gone 12-1 together, and the Grizzlies have won the doubles point in 10 of those 13 matches.
"To go on a 12-match winning streak with Haley when they'd never played together has really helped solidify our doubles," Ascher said. "Every time we play you can almost bank that they are going to pull out a win at No. 3 doubles.
"She still has two years remaining, so I expect some special things before this is all said and done. She could really have some special moments."
What makes Gbadamosi so tough for her opponent to deal with? Two things: She is left-handed and she has track speed that was developed while running the 400 meters at Houston's Klein High School.
"This last year Precious has been learning how to use her lefty-ness a lot more," Ascher said. "A lot of teams we face don't have lefties to go up against in practice on a daily basis, so somebody is going to have to play something they are not used to seeing."
As for Gbadamosi's speed and how it influences her game, Ascher invokes the hallowed names of Novak Djokovic and friends.
"The players who can defend the court the best and then translate defense to offense in that transition period are the best players in the world," he says.
"Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, they are not the biggest hitters on the tour, but they are the best at covering the angles on the court.
"That's what Precious provides. She has the type of speed that allows her to be able to play those defensive positions so well on the court."
Coming off four wins in six days, Montana takes a break from matches this week before hosting Southern Utah and Idaho State next week.
The Grizzlies, along with Sacramento State and Northern Arizona, have clinched three of the spots to the six-team Big Sky Conference tournament, which will be held April 26-28 in Sacramento, Calif.
