Montana
UNLV
Grizzlies fall to nationally ranked UNLV
4/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
In their first match of a non-conference swing to Las Vegas, the Montana Grizzlies men's tennis team fell to nationally ranked UNLV 5-2.
The Griz (7-6/ 6-2 BSC), who have played well in doubles over the past couple weeks, started off very slow and quickly lost the opening point. Coach Kris Nord was disappointed in the doubles competition, but made a request before singles started.
"We really started slow in all three matches in doubles; we were disappointed with that," Nord said. "We were a step slow and, I don't know if we were intimidated or what, but we just got dominated in doubles so I just really got on the guys to respond and play better singles and I felt like we did for the most part."
UNLV (11-6) is ranked No. 75 in the country, and all 11 of its wins have come at home. Nord noted how good of a team UNLV is, but was proud of his teams effort in the singles competition.
"They are a good team," Nord said. "They are pretty solid, so I felt good about getting the two points. Peter played real well in the singles, so did Yannick. We had some good sets in the other matches, but you have to play a complete match against these guys and we didn't."
Peter Mimnagh-Fleming dominated at No. 3 singles, defeating Adam Gage-Brown 6-2, 6-1 to pick up one of Montana's points. Yannick Schmidl won at No. 6 against Ozzy Abraham 7-5, 6-0. The win was Schmidl's eighth win in his last nine matches, but Nord doesn't want the rest of his team to rely on the No. 6 to get the team win.
"You love it, but I don't want the other guys to depend on that," Nord said. "I want everybody else to feel like they can do the same things that those two are doing right now and get on a roll, because I feel like everybody on our team can go on a roll once they're playing well. We'll ride them when they're hot, and hopefully get a few more guys playing well, too."
The Griz will stay in Las Vegas tomorrow to challenge Nevada (6-10), who was nationally ranked earlier in the season. They have struggled through the middle of their schedule, but have the same amount of talent as UNLV. Montana will need a better showing in doubles to stay in the match.
"We need a better start in doubles," Nord said. "Nevada is talented too; they are comparable to UNLV. They were nationally ranked for a while, I don't think they are anymore, but they are talented. We have to come out ready to play in doubles and then play a complete match in singles.
"It's a challenge for us to do that across the board. We did it last weekend, but now the competition's raised a little bit and now it's a little tougher to do it but that's our goal for tomorrow."
Montana 2, UNLV 5
Las Vegas, Nevada
April 1, 2015
Singles
1. Denys Pume (UNLV) def. Tomasz Soltyka (UM) 6-3, 6-2
2. Jakob Amilon (UNLV) def. Semion Branzburg (UM) 6-0, 6-3
3. Peter Mimnagh-Fleming (UM) def. Adam Gage-Brown (UNLV) 6-2, 6-1
4. Alexandr Cozbinov (UNLV) def. Victor Casadevall (UM) 6-2, 6-4
5. Ruben Alberts (UNLV) def. Alexandr Rudenco (UM) 6-3, 6-0
6. Yannick Schmidl (UM) def. Ozzy Abraham (UNLV) 7-5, 6-0
Doubles
1. Albert/Amulon (UNLV) def. Soltyka/Mimnagh-Fleming (UM) 6-2
2. Brown/Pum (UNLV) def. Branzburg/Schmidl (UM) 6-1
3. Cosbianoff/Abraham (UNLV) vs. Casadevall/Fisher (UM) unf.
Players Mentioned
