Montana
Northern Colorado
Griz clinch regular season title
4/12/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 12, 2014
Photo Gallery 
Less than 24 hours after Friday's emotionally and physically exhausting record-snapping win over Sacramento State, the Montana Grizzlies women's tennis team showed no signs of lingering exhaustion in a 7-0 rout of third-place Northern Colorado (8-8, 6-3 BSC) Saturday afternoon at the Peak Racquet Club.
With the win, the Griz are officially 2014 Big Sky Conference regular season champions, improving to 8-0 in conference matches with only one week of play remaining.
"It's exciting to just validate last night by the way we came out and played today," Ascher said. "It's been a really emotional weekend. This team comes to work everyday. It says a lot about how hungry they are."
Fatigue wasn't a factor, but the drama from Friday rolled over into Saturday morning. The Bears won No. 3 doubles 8-4, putting itself in position to take a 1-0 lead. Sasha Carter and Laurence Pelchat were down 4-3, but started clicking, running off five straight and winning 8-4.
The doubles point came down to Precious Gbadamosi and Haley Driver, who were in a battle at No. 1, trailing 7-6. The pair of juniors' veins started cooling, and they iced the Bears' duo of Stephanie Catlin and Ben Coton, claiming a 9-8 win with a 7-4 tiebreaker. Catlin and Coton defeated Sacramento State's No. 1 doubles players 8-4 a few weeks ago.
"We were up 6-3, then they went up 7-6, but we just calmed down and played our game," Gbadamosi said. "We started hitting a better ball and making them miss and it worked out.
"Haley is such a great player, and she's gotten so much better this year. We play a lot together in practice, and try to stay loose and have fun."
Driver rolled into singles with momentum from the close doubles match. The Scottsdale, Ariz. native clipped Adriana Nieto 6-0, 6-0, improving her perfect conference singles mark to 8-0.
Sasha Carter and Pelchat had dominating performances much like Driver's match, finishing up within ten minutes of each other. The Griz earned a 4-0 lead about an hour into singles play, which clinched another conference win.
Carter and Pelchat both improved to 7-1 in Big Sky matches. At No. 5 singles, it was business as usual for senior Ashley Mackey, who won her fourth straight singles match, improving to 8-0 in conference play. As a team, UM upped its conference singles mark to 41-7.
Maddy Murray's match at No. 6 was the most competitive match of the afternoon, as the senior won in a third set tiebreaker, finishing off the 7-0 sweep.
"She played a really incredible tiebreaker," Ascher said. "I think their five and six are some of the best players on the team. The way she went about it, the style she played, it speaks volumes about where her game is at right now."
The Griz host its final two games of the regular season next weekend, playing North Dakota and Idaho at the Peak. Gbadamosi said the team talked about not getting a `big head,' which shouldn't be a problem for Ascher's mental giants.
"They have a level-headed mentality about them," Ascher said. "You want to celebrate the moment and really enjoy it, embrace the emotions that come with such great moments, but then move on, because we have a lot left to do."
Montana 7, Northern Colorado 0
April 12, 2014 at Missoula, Mont. (Peak Racquet Club)
Singles competition
1. Haley Driver (UM) def. Adriana Nieto (UNC) 6-0, 6-0
2. Precious Gbadamosi (UM) def. Stephanie Catlin (UNC) 6-4, 6-4
3. Sasha Carter (UM) def. Chrissie Hoolahan (UNC) 6-3, 6-1
4. Laurence Pelchat (UM) def. Hilary Walters-West (UNC) 6-1, 6-0
5. Ashley Mackey (UM) def. Laura Wehner (UNC) 6-3, 6-3
6. Maddy Murray (UM) def. Beth Coton (UNC) 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-8)
Doubles competition
1. Haley Driver/Precious Gbadamosi (UM) def. Stephanie Catlin/Beth Coton (UNC) 9-8 (7-4)
2. Sasha Carter/Laurence Pelchat (UM) def. Laura Wehner/Chrissie Hoolahan (UNC) 8-4
3. Adriana Nieto/Courtney Schulte (UNC) def. Ashley Mackey/Anabel Carbo-Estruch (UM) 8-4
Match Notes
Montana: 13-7, 8-0 BSC
Northern Colorado: 8-8, 6-3 BSC
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (1,3,4,2,5,6)
Match duration: 4 hours, 15 minutes
Players Mentioned
