Montana
Utah State
Griz swept by Aggies in season opener
1/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
They say that revenge is a dish best served cold, and the Utah State Aggies did just that Friday in Logan. The Aggies, who were swept by Montana last season, returned the favor in a 7-0 victory at home.
Utah State, ranked No. 70 in the nation, stayed perfect (6-0) on the season with the win. They have previously defeated a nationally ranked San Diego State team this season.
The loss doesn't come as a surprise to coach Kris Nord and his team. They knew how improved Utah State was and what they have done so far this season, taking these matches as a learning experience in the early season.
Victor Casadevall, a freshman from Spain who joined the Griz over the holiday, put up the best fight, losing a close match 5-7, 7-5, 1-0(10-8). Casadevall was playing No. 5 singles for the Griz. The newcomer impressed Nord in his first match as a Griz.
"I was really impressed with Victor's match," he said. "He played a tough kid and was a couple points away from winning the match a couple of different times. (Schneider) did really well when he had to or Victor would have had a win there."
Peter Mimnagh-Fleming, who played No. 2 for Montana, also lost a close match, 6-4, 6-4.
The match gave Nord an idea of what his team needs to work on as they continue towards Big Sky Conference play.
"We have a bunch of things we need to work on," he said. "There are some doubles things, just basic serve and volley in doubles. We just need to get some competition under our belts in singles before we can really make a determination."
The Griz will play No. 56 Utah Sunday at 11 a.m. in Salt Lake City. A preview for the match can be found on gogriz.com.
Montana vs Utah State
Jan 30, 2015 at Logan, Utah
(Sports Academy and Racquet Club)
#70 Utah State 7, Montana 0
Singles
1. Jack Swindells (USU) def. Thomasz Soltyka (UM) 6-0, 6-1
2. Dennis Baumgartner (USU) def. P. Mimnagh-Fleming (UM) 6-4, 6-4
3. Marcus Fritz (USU) def. Semion Branzburg (UM) 6-4, 6-2
4. Karan Salwan (USU) def. Tom Witteveen (UM) 6-1, 6-2
5. Sebastian Schneider (USU) def. Victor Casadevall (UM) 5-7, 7-5, 10-8
6. Matt Sweet (USU) def. Yannick Schmidl (UM) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles
1. Marcus Fritz/Dennis Baumgartner (USU) def. Tomasz Soltyka/P. Mimnagh-Fleming (UM) 6-1
2. Jack Swindells/Matt Sweet (USU) def. Semion Branzburg/Tom Witteveen (UM) 6-3.
3. Karan Salwan/Sebastian Schneider (USU) def. Alexandr Rudenco/Yannick Schmidl (UM) 6-4
Match Notes:
Montana 0-0 Utah State 6-0; National ranking #70 Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,4,3,2,6,5)
Players Mentioned
