Montana
North Dakota
Men's tennis team sweeps UND
4/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 13, 2014
Photo Gallery 
The Montana Grizzlies men's tennis team (9-10, 7-1 BSC) remains in sole possession of second place after a 7-0 win against North Dakota on Sunday afternoon at the Peak Racquet Club in Missoula.
The Griz won every singles match in straight sets, and won all three doubles flights against North Dakota (3-15, 2-8 BSC). Head coach Kris Nord says the lineup is pretty close to set in stone, and he's satisfied with a 2-0 weekend against two Big Sky teams.
"I'm happy with two wins against these two teams," Nord said. "It gets to be a long part of the season physically, and then you have two teams that you should beat -- it's a little harder to get fired up and get it done, and they did that, so I'm happy."
At No. 1 doubles, Semion Branzburg and Ethan Vaughn further solidified themselves as the guaranteed duo at the top doubles slot, improving their conference record to 6-0. They defeated Grant Bakke and Josh Oothoudt 8-3.
Mikolaj Caruk and Tomasz Soltyka took care of Connor Oberle and Dustin Britton 8-5, improving to 5-1 in conference doubles as a duo. Nord says he was happy with getting the doubles point, but added that there are areas they could improve on in doubles.
"I sound like a perfectionist, but I like to see all three teams show up ready to play," Nord said. "We got the point, and that's what is important, but I'd like to see everyone show up with a little fire in their belly."
In singles, UM won every match in straight sets. Soltyka improved to 7-1 in conference matches, winning 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 singles. Shortly after, senior Andrew Warren finished up at No. 2, winning 6-0, 6-2. Branzburg won the fourth point and guaranteed the victory, notching a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 3.
"We are getting a lot of momentum right now," Branzburg said. "We're kind of closing in. It's a journey we started a couple months ago and we're getting better in each match, and I think I am playing well right now too."
The win puts the Griz in the driver's seat to clinch the No. 2 seed for the Big Sky tournament, which is in two weeks. After playing Idaho on Thursday, UM hosts Eastern Washington Saturday and then Montana State (9-6, 5-2 BSC) on Sunday. A win against the Bobcats, which defeated the Griz in a non-conference match two months ago, would guarantee the Griz the No. 2 seed in the tournament.
"I'm very excited to play Idaho, because it's a very good team," Branzburg said of hosting the Vandals on Thursday afternoon. "The two conference matches, we know, are the most important though. The match against the Cats is very important because we lost to them last time, and no Grizzly wants to lose to the Cats."
Montana 7, North Dakota 0
Sunday, April 13 2014 at Missoula, Mont. (Peak Racquet Club)
Doubles results
No. 1 Semion Branzburg/Ethan Vaughn (UM) def. Grant Bakke/Josh Oothoudt (UND) 8-3
No. 2 Mikolaj Caruk/Tomasz Soltyka (UM) def. Connor Oberle/Dustin Britton (UND) 8-5
No. 3 Andrew Warren/Eric Braun (UM) def. Ryan McGuigan/David Bergstrom (UND) 8-2
Singles results
No. 1 Mikolaj Caruk (UM) def. Ryan McGuigan (UND) 7-5, 6-3
No. 2 Andrew Warren (UM) def. Josh Oothoudt (UND) 6-0, 6-2
No. 3 Semion Branzburg (UM) def. Dustin Britton (UND) 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 Tomasz Soltyka (UM) def. Grant Bakke (UND) 6-1, 6-1
No. 5 Ethan Vaughn (UM) def. Connor Oberle (UND) 6-1, 6-1
No. 6 Peter Mimnagh-Fleming (UM) def. David Bergstrom (UND) 6-0, 6-1
Match notes
Montana: 9-10, 7-1 BSC
North Dakota: 3-15, 2-8 BSC
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (4,2,3,1,5,6)
Players Mentioned
