Montana
Wyoming
Griz finish road trip 1-2 after loss to Wyoming
3/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
The Montana Grizzlies women's tennis team dropped its final match of a three-day road trip to Wyoming 6-1 in Laramie Sunday morning.
Precious Gbadamosi earned the Grizzlies (4-6/3-0 BSC) lone point of the day at No. 1 singles, beating Magdalena Stencel 6-4, 0-6, 6-3. The Grizzlies nearly started the day off positively by claiming the doubles point over the Cowgirls (6-5), but coach Steve Ascher said they didn't finish strong enough.
"We were up 5-3 at No. 3 doubles and we had won at No. 1," Ascher said. "They are continuing to figure out, how do we close out matches and what do we do when we have opportunities to finish."
Gbadamosi was the only Griz player to win her singles match, but sophomore Hannah Sulz put forward a great performance in a close 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 against Jessica Parizher.
"Hannah played a really good match today," Ascher said. "She had an opportunity to serve for the match, and unfortunately it didn't come up but she's getting closer."
The loss dropped Montana's non-conference record to 1-6. Ascher said his team's hard work isn't represented by the wins and losses.
"I think, mentally, our approach is getting better, it just hasn't translated into wins yet in non-conference matches," he said.
His team features three seniors, but it also has a number of underclassmen competing for playing time. Ascher's younger players are learning how to deal with the pressure that goes along with college tennis.
"Our sport is so different from so many other sports because everybody has to contribute and everybody has to finish," he said. "It would be like asking all five of your basketball players to, when the pressure comes on, not pass the ball but make the winning shot. Not many sports have that kind of pressure."
While Montana lost two out of three, they did win their only conference match against Northern Colorado Saturday. The Grizzlies remain unbeaten in the Big Sky, and Ascher said he is glad his team kept that streak going.
"Obviously, we're glad about the Big Sky win because that keeps that momentum going within the conference," he said. "I honestly think we learned a lot mentally from the two non-conference matches. Even today, I could see some things happening that were better, it's just really challenging playing at 7,500 hundred feet elevation."
Montana will play another Big Sky match next Saturday against Southern Utah. It will be the first home match of the season for the Griz. Ascher wants his team to build on the lessons they learned on this trip.
"We're going to get back home and play a home match next weekend and try to continue to grow and gain upon the things we learned this weekend.
Wyoming 6 Montana 1
Singles
1. Precious Gbadamosi def. Magdalena Stencel (WY), 6-4, 0-6, 6-3
2. Dorottya Jonas (WY) def. Sasha Carter (UM), 6-1, 6-1
3. Nastya Tokareva (WY) def. Laurence Pelchat (UM), 6-4, 6-1
4. Jessica Parizher (WY) def. Hannah Sulz (UM), 4-6, 7-5, 7-5
5. Silviya Zhelyazkova (WY) def. Cam Kincaid (UM), 6-3, 6-1
6. Christa Gecheva (WY) def. Catherine Orfanos (UM), 6-4, 6-0
Doubles
1. Gbadamosi/Pelchat (UM) def. Stencel/Parizher (WY), 6-3
2. Alma Espinosa/Gecheva (WY) def. Carter/Orfanos (UM), 6-2
3. Jonas/Zheylazkova (WY) def. Kincaid/Sulz (UM), 7-5
Players Mentioned
