Deep Griz men’s tennis squad sees first action this weekend

The Montana men's tennis team will take the court with a full squad for the first time this year in Boise on Thursday as the fall season gets underway in earnest at the annual Dar Walters Boise State Fall Classic.

Over 70 athletes representing 11 schools from Army to Seattle converge on the Appleton Tennis Center in Boise this weekend. Montana will get the season going loaded with a full 12-man roster that head coach Kris Nord believes is the deepest he's seen in school history.

Coach Nord has been putting the Griz tennis team through a near month-long trial period to trim his roster down to 12. From that competition, he says the talent has risen at all levels within the team.

"We had a couple good kids who didn't make the team, but the kids who didn't quite make it would have been playing for me 10 years ago," said Coach Nord from his office in the Adams Center.

"I can look at pictures on the wall here and think that a couple of the guys who aren't going to be with us this year would have been playing, definitely in doubles and probably in the singles line up too."

The 12-man final roster has a potent mix of experience bolstered by a promising freshman class that adds size and power to an already strong Grizzly squad.

Leading the field for the Griz in Boise will be senior Semion Branzburg (Ashdod, Isriel) who has been a key part of the team's two Big Sky Championships in his three years in Missoula.

"He clinched our match against Weber at the tournament a year and a half ago, and that's just who Semi is. He's just a clutch player," said Nord.

"He's probably my best net player I've had in a long time at Montana. He's got great hands, he'll attack, he's not your typical topspin grinder in college tennis. Semi charges and takes the net, so he's really unique in that regard.

"He's also just areal good competitor. He doesn't get down when things aren't going well, he stays up beat and competes, and that's exactly what you want from your seniors. I'm hoping we can send Semion out on a high note because he's had a real great career already."

Also expected to lead the Griz this year will be junior Peter Mimnagh-Fleming (Navan, Ireland) who is coming off an impressive semifinal performance at a Bozeman warm-up tournament two weeks ago where he took one of the region's best players to extra points.

"He worked really hard on his tennis this summer and had the best tournament in Bozeman," said Coach Nord of Peter. "He's also a big strong kid. When we play him against top completion, he usually rises to that level."

Another key returner for the 2015-16 Griz is senior Tomasz Soltyka (Gdynia, Poland), a transfer from Santa Clara whom Coach Nord believes will provide Montana more weapons to stay competitive at the top of the depth chart in the one position.

"Tomasz is the reason we won the Big Sky two years ago," said Nord. "He transferred here in spring of '14, and he was the difference maker for us. He tipped the balance of us finishing first or second, and helped us win that tournament. He's going to be one of our top three players."

Starting to come of age on the Griz tennis squad is a group of talented sophomores led by Zach Fisher (Richland, Wash.) who Nord expects to continue to flourish as he faces better and better competition.

"Zach is probably my most improved player from his senior year of high school until now," says Nord. "He just keeps getting better and better. He's a hard worker and he just keeps moving upward, and that's what we want.

"He's going to be challenging for a doubles and hopefully a singles spot."

Perhaps the biggest story in Griz tennis this season however, is the addition of an outstanding freshman class that is expected to move in and immediately compete for spots.

Anirudh Satishchandra (Bangalore, India) is a large and imposing freshman who was unable to play a lot of tennis recently in his home country of due to the monsoon season and a stringent academic schedule, but is a player who Coach Nord says is going to compete.

"I'm really impressed with his potential. He hits a big ball, he's got a real big serve. We need to get him acclimated to Missoula, Montana and college tennis, but I think he's got a huge upside. I'm excited about him."

Satishchandra will be one of the first Grizzlies in action this week when he faces off against Boise State's Abe Hewko at 1 p.m. MT.

Making the trip to his hometown of Boise, but this time wearing Griz colors is freshman left hander Jacob Schoenherr who was an Idaho State Champion as a prep for Boise High.

Coach Nord will take advantage of the hard working lefty with a big up side to change patterns of play against Montana's opponents.

"Again, it seems repetitive, but there is going to be about six of these guys vying for one or two spots, and Jacob will be one of them," says Nord, speaking on his freshman class. "He's hung with all the guys pretty well. He needs to get a bit more used to the college pace of play, but he's fit in quite well."

Also highlighting Nord's incoming class is former Helena Capital State Champion Noah Strizich. A well rounded player expected to compete in both singles and doubles who is still working to get back to 100 percent after an injury kept him out for much of his senior year.

Perhaps the biggest incoming freshman who is expected to contribute immediately is Alexander Canellopoulos of Athens, Greece who comes to Montana as one of the top age-grade players in all of Greece.

Standing tall at 6-3, with all the polish of an upperclassman, Canellopoulos will be in the mix in singles and doubles straight away.

"He is a difference maker," says Coach Nord. "All of these freshman, they all have that potential to be difference makers, but I think Alex is the most polished of the group. I expect him to be in the lineup soon."

The competition at the Dar Walters Classic begins on Thursday at 9 a.m. Mountain and runs throughout the weekend concluding Sunday afternoon around 4 p.m.

Competing teams: Abilene Christian, Air Force, Army, Boise State, Idaho State, Lewis-Clark State, Montana, Portland State, Seattle, Utah State and Weber State.

Fans can follow the action from Boise via live scoring HERE.

Meet your 2015-16 Griz

2015-16 Men's Tennis Roster
NAME                                     YEAR   HT.      HOMETOWN / PREVIOUS SCHOOL
Petar Barcot                           Fr.        6-0      Belgrade, Serbia / Brook Hill
Semion Branzburg Sr.        5-11    Ashdod, Israel / Rothberg HS
Alexander Canellopoulos Fr.        6-3      Athens, Greece / German School of Athens
Victor Casadevall So.       5-10    Sant Celoni, Spain / IES Baix Montseny
Zach Fisher                            So.       6-2      Richland, Wash. / Richland HS
Peter Mimnagh-Fleming Jr.        6-3      Navan, Ireland / Blackrock College
Anirudh Satishchandra Fr.        6-3      Bangalore, India / Sindhi Pre-University
Yannick Schmidl                    So.       6-1      Ingolstadt, Germany/ Christoph-Scheiner-Gymnasium
Jacob Schoenherr Fr.        6-2      Boise, Idaho / Boise HS
Tomasz Soltyka Sr.        5-10    Gdynia, Poland / Santa Clara
Noah Strizich                         Fr.        5-10    Helena, Mont. / Capital HS
Tom Witteveen                      So.       6-3      San Diego, Calif. / Steele Canyon HS

Deep Griz men’s tennis squad sees first action this weekend

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Players Mentioned

Petar Barcot

Semion Branzburg

Alex Canellopoulos

Victor Casadevall

Zach Fisher

Peter Mimnagh-Fleming

Anirudh Satishchandra

Yannick Schmidl

Jacob Schoenherr

Tomasz Soltyka

Noah Strizich

Tom Witteveen

University of Montana Athletics