Montana
Gonzaga
Men's tennis team fights off Gonzaga 5-2
2/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 22, 2014
The Montana Grizzlies men's tennis team defeated the Gonzaga Bulldogs 5-2 on Saturday afternoon in Spokane, Wash. at the Stevens Center for its first win of 2014.
Head Coach Kris Nord wanted to win the doubles point and play more aggressive in the middle of the lineup -- his Grizzlies delivered on both wishes.
Eric Braun and Peter Mimnagh-Fleming played together for the first time at No. 3 doubles, dominating 8-3.
"That really set the tone," Assistant coach Jason Brown said. "They have a digital scoreboard at their new facility, and everyone looked over and saw they dominated, and things took off from there."
After Mikolaj Caruk and Tomasz Soltyka knocked off Gonzaga's Vladimir Minato and Joey Brandt 8-5, the Grizzlies went on to sweep the doubles point, winning all three matches.
"We came out on fire compared to the last couple of matches," Brown added. "We kind of felt like the season started today."
The Grizzlies' owned the middle flights as well, winning matches at No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 singles. The most noteworthy performance was freshman Peter Mimnagh-Fleming's blowout at No. 5.
"Fleming really stepped up, " Brown said. "It's the equivalent of a 30 point win in basketball, or a five touchdown win playing football."
The Griz improve to 1-3 on the spring season, and will host two Big Sky Conference teams next weekend.
"Heading into conference we wanted to focus on getting better and just put the first few results behind us," Brown added.
Montana will battle Portland State at 12 p.m. on Friday at the Peak, and then on Saturday Missoula's maroon netters take on Sacramento State at 11 a.m.
Montana 5, Gonzaga 2
Feb 22, 2014 at Spokane, Wash. (Stevens Center)
Singles Results
1. Mikolaj Caruk (UM) def. Vladimir Mijatovic (GON) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
2. Nick Kamisar (GON) def. Andrew Warren (UM) 7-5, 6-0
3. Tomasz Soltyka (UM) def. Jack Schoebel (GON) 6-1, 6-3
4. Semion Branzburg (UM) def. Muzeen Ismath (GON) 6-1, 7-6 (7-5)
5. Peter Mimnagh-Fleming (UM) def. Vicente Varas (GON) 6-0, 6-1
6. Pablo Mosquera Perez (GON) def. Zach Drost (UM) 7-5, 6-0
Doubles Results
1. Andrew Warren/Semion Branzburg (UM) def. Jack Schoebel/Muzeen Ismath (GON) 8-7 (7-5)
2. Mikolaj Caruk/Tomasz Soltyka (UM) def. Vladimir Mijatovic/Joey Brandt (GON) 8-5
3. Eric Braun/Peter Mimnagh-Fleming (UM) def. Nick Kamisar/Pablo Mosquera Perez (GON) 8-3
Match Notes:
Gonzaga (6-3), Montana (1-3)
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (3,5,6,2,4,1)
Players Mentioned
