Griz looking to get into conference-ready form at Gonzaga

OPENING DRAWS

Montana men's tennis will hit the courts for the last time this fall as Gonzaga University is set to host the Northwest's best at the Bulldog Classic, under cover at GU's Stevens Center indoor tennis facility.

Action from Spokane gets underway early on Friday and will last through the weekend, with two singles and a doubles bracket.

COVERAGE: Griz fans can tune in to watch all the action on each court LIVE via Gonzaga Tennis' YouTube Channel web stream.

This will be the Grizzlies' first opportunity to see some of the Big Sky Conference's top teams in Idaho, Eastern Washington, Portland State and Montana State, in addition to some of the best teams in the Western U.S. including the No. 9 regionally ranked Portland Pilots and the host Bulldogs.

Montana will send 10 players from the team's 12-deep roster to Spokane, leaving behind the experience of Victor Casadevall and Semion Branzburg, who will stay in Missoula to nurse injuries.

Griz head coach Kris Nord will use his team's final outing of the fall as a litmus test against good competition to see how his young team has come along heading into the start of Big Sky conference play in February.

"I'm hoping to get a couple of kids deep into the main draw, that would be a good result for us," said Nord.

"I was just looking at some of the first round matchups, and we are going to have to play really well to get past the first round right now, and that's just the way it is. It's a difficult draw."

Nord will have the opportunity to grade-out the half of his team that didn't travel to Albuquerque for the ITA Mountain Regionals, and measure how they've improved over the fall against unfamiliar opposition in Spokane.

"I'm going to spend more time in their courts than the kids I've been with the last two weeks," said Coach Nord.

"Petar Barcot and Anirudh Satishchandra, Jacob Schoehnerr and Noah Strizich - I think those kids had a lot to work on, and they've shown in practice they're doing it, so I'm hoping they bring it to Gonzaga."

WHO TO WATCH: Montana junior Peter Mimnagh-Fleming comes into the weekend as the tournament's No. 8 seed, and will face off against Portland State sophomore Nathan Boniel in the singles draw.

Mimnagh-Fleming has been the most consistent singles player of the year for the Griz after making the semifinals at the Montana State Invitational at the start of the fall season.

"I'm really happy with his play. He's stronger, he's a little wiser, he's worked on a few things in his game, and he can bring it to the court," said Nord. "That's been good to see because Peter will probably be playing one for us to start the spring."

Senior Tomasz Soltyka, who played two days of quality singles in Albuquerque to reach the quarterfinals of the back draw, will try keep his hot hand going against the tournament's No. 7 seed Jordan Smith of Gonzaga to open his singles play.

"Tomasz has had a bit of a roller coaster fall, but I really like how he finished at regionals. I don't think he's real happy with his results, but he's moving in the right direction."

With a talented field at the Bulldog Classic, and a team comprised of only three upperclassmen, improvement is the name of the game for Nord and the Grizzlies this weekend in preparation for Big Sky play in the spring.

"I'm more concerned with guys improving and trying some things, losing some fear of trying some shots in competition, getting over that hump," said Nord.

"I want our guys to embrace getting better, because that's what's going to do it for us in conference play."

This is the second year of the Bulldog Classic, with the home team 'Zags taking wins in both singles brackets and the doubles bracket last year.

Griz looking to get into conference-ready form at Gonzaga

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Players Mentioned

Petar Barcot

Semion Branzburg

Victor Casadevall

Peter Mimnagh-Fleming

Anirudh Satishchandra

Tomasz Soltyka

Noah Strizich

University of Montana Athletics