Montana
Idaho
Carter improves to 7-0 in Griz loss
4/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
In a battle between two one-loss teams, it was the Idaho Vandals who emerged victorious against the Montana Grizzlies in a Big Sky women's tennis clash Friday afternoon in Moscow.
Idaho (11-7/8-1 BSC) rolled out to an early lead thanks to a doubles win, and held that momentum through the singles competition to earn a 6-1 victory.
The match was closer than the final score indicates, as Montana (7-10/5-2 BSC) had a chance to take the doubles point early on. The No. 3 pairing of Cam Kincaid and Hannah Sulz earned a 7-6 victory, but Montana dropped the top two matches to give Idaho the point.
In singles, it was senior Sasha Carter who earned the only point of the day for the Griz, with a dominating 6-2, 6-1 victory at No. 2 singles. The win improved Carter's record to 7-0 in conference play on the year. Her coach Steve Ascher was impressed with her performance.
"She just flat out beat that girl," Ascher said. "There wasn't really much to it. Sasha was just way better than her opponent today."
Montana nearly earned two more points, as both Laurence Pelchat and Hannah Sulz went three sets at No. 3 and 4, respectively. Pelchat lost 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 to Emmie Marx, while Sulz fell 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 to Rita Bermudez.
Ascher was happy with Sulz's performance in both singles and doubles.
"I think Hannah had a really good day," Ascher said. "Her and Cam pulling that doubles point, which they haven't been doing, but they've been crashing hard and they stepped up."
The rest of the Grizzlies weren't quite in sync, and Ascher knows he needs all six players to be on the same page, competing at a high level to beat a quality opponent like Idaho.
"I think for whatever reason, we're just having a little bit of growing pains," Ascher said. "We're just not competing as well as a team as we need to in these scenarios, so it's just making sure that we continue to do the right things."
The loss came a day after the Grizzlies cruised to a 7-0 victory against NAIA opponent Lewis-Clark State. Montana will finish off the road trip Sunday afternoon against Eastern Washington.
The Eagles, who entered the weekend with a 2-7 record in the conference, will be the final road match of the season for the Griz, who's schedule concludes with three straight home matches. Ascher saw a couple players step up on Friday, but needs his entire roster to respond Sunday.
"We need six players to be doing that, and we didn't get that today, which was disappointing," Ascher said, "but obviously we have another match this weekend and we have an opportunity to continue to get better."
Montana 1, @ Idaho 6
Moscow, Idaho
April 10, 2015
Singles
1. Galina Bykova (UI) def. Precious Gbadamosi (UM) 6-3, 7-5
2. Sasha Carter (UM) def. Sophie Vickers (UI) 6-2, 6-1
3. Emmie Marx (UI) def. Laurence Pelchat (UM) 6-3, 4-6, 6-0
4. Rita Bermudez (UI) def. Hannah Sulz (UM) 6-4, 1-6, 7-5
5. Lucia Badillos (UI) def. Cam Kincaid (UM) 6-2, 6-0
6. Belen Barcenilla (UI) def. Catherine Orfanos (UM) 6-0, 6-1
Doubles
1. Marx/Bykova (UI) def. Gbadamosi/Pelchat (UM) 6-1
2. Bercenilla/Vickers (UI) def. Carter/Orfanos (UM) 6-4
3. Kincaid/Sulz (UM) def. Badillos/Bermudez (UI) 7-6 (6)
Match Notes
Montana 7-10
Idaho 11-7
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (6,5,2,1,3,4)
Players Mentioned
