Montana
Idaho State
Griz win first match of season against Idaho State
2/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
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Kris Nord can take a deep breath. His Montana team finally bucked their losing streak and put one in the win column Saturday afternoon with a 6-1 victory against Idaho State in Missoula.
A crowd met the two teams at PEAK, where the Bengals (0-3/0-2 BSC) started out the much more assertive team in the doubles competition. Their No. 1 team of Loebel/Scheepbouwer easily handled Soltyka/Mimnagh-Fleming 6-1.
The Griz (1-4/1-1 BSC) got a big 6-1 win of their own at No. 3 doubles, where Casadevall/Fisher defeated Miller/Miller. But Idaho State won 6-2 at No. 2 to claim the doubles point and start the dual out up 1-0.
Nord thought his team needed to loosen up a bit during the doubles competition.
"We played tight in doubles, and I was really concerned, because I thought we needed the doubles point, but obviously we didn't," he said. "That was probably the weakest doubles we've played this year, so I was a little disappointed, but I asked the guys to respond and go win some singles and they did."
The singles competition was all Montana from the start. Peter Mimnagh-Fleming got things started for the Griz at No. 3 with a quick 6-2, 6-2 victory. Freshman Victor Casadevall followed soon after with a dominating 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 4.
"That was a real workman's like job by Victor, and we needed that," Nord said. "He and Peter got off the courts quickly, and that gave us a little momentum."
The Griz received another straight set victory at No. 2, where Tomasz Soltyka earned a hard-fought 6-1, 6-4 win. The first three matches were quick, and the Griz were one point away from their first victory of the season.
It was Semion Branzburg, a junior, who clinched the match for the Griz in perhaps the most exciting match anyone on this Grizzly team has ever played.
It was a slow start for Branzburg, as he dropped the first set 6-2 against Krzysztof Stempien. The match appeared to be over in the second set, as Stempien jumped out to a 5-2 lead. But Branzburg showed no quit, and won five consecutive games to take the second set 7-5 and force a third.
Branzburg once again came out of the gates slow in the third, and faced what everyone in the audience thought to be an insurmountable deficit at 5-0. The junior leader for the Griz wouldn't say die, however, and once again fought his way back into the match and forced a tiebreak.
Branzburg won the tiebreak with ease 7-3, fist pumping and shouting as the crowd applauded the amazing effort from the junior. He credited the crowd and the home atmosphere as major reasons for his ability to come back.
"I had a lot of energy playing at home, it's always good to be home in the Peak," Branzburg said. "People came out and it was good having some friends and the girl's tennis team come out and cheer for us, and that was great. It was a great atmosphere."
Nord noted how difficult of an opponent Stempien is, and credited Branzburg for being able to relax.
"Stempien is really hard to play anyway, but for Semion to come back from 5-2 and 5-0, that's a great confidence boost for him," Nord said. "He finally started relaxing and playing some points. He was really tight."
Branzburg thanked his coaches for their work with him and said he did his best to keep a good mindset.
"I have three good coaches," he said. "I was just trying to be a little more patient and wait for my chances and not get too frustrated."
The win pushed the score to 4-1 and clinched the dual for Montana. It also took the pressure off of Alexandr Rudenco and Yannick Schmidl, a pair of freshmen who were in tight matches of their own. Rudenco had a chance to clinch the match before Branzburg, but lost a match point.
He fought back strong, and was able to close his match out in straight sets 6-4, 7-6 (7-1). Nord liked the way his freshman competed for every point, even those he lost.
"Alex played real well," he said. "He had one golden point that would have just wrapped the match up, but he got a little crazy at the net. I was just happy with how Alex played, because even when he wasn't winning the games he was still making his opponent fight and he was playing good tennis."
Schmidl was the last Grizzly on the courts, but was able to secure the sweep for the Griz with a 7-6 (7-2), 2-6, (10-6) victory.
Montana will be back in action next Friday, Mar. 6 when they travel to Greeley, Colorado to take on Northern Colorado.
Montana 6, Idaho St 1
Feb. 28 at PEAK Health & Wellness Center
Missoula, Montana
Singles
1. Semion Branzburg (UM) def. Krzysztof Stempien (ISU) 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3)
2. Tomasz Soltyka (UM) def. Daniel Loebel (ISU) 6-1, 6-4
3. Peter Mimnagh-Fleming (UM) def. Bjorn Scheepbouwer (ISU) 6-2, 6-2
4. Victor Casadevall (UM) def. Josh Goodwin (ISU) 6-1, 6-2
5. Alexandr Rudenco (UM) def. Austin Miller (ISU) 6-4, 7-6 (7-1)
6. Yannick Schmidl (UM) def. Orin Duffin (ISU) 7-6 (7-2), 2-6, (10-6)
Doubles
1. Loebel/Scheepbouwer (ISU) def. Soltyka/Mimnagh-Fleming (UM) 6-1
2. Stempien/Goodwin (ISU) def. Branzburg/Schmidl (UM) 6-2
3. Zach Fisher/Casadevall (UM) def. Cody Miller/Austin Miller 6-1
Order of finish:
Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (3,4,2,1,5,6)
Players Mentioned
