Montana
Eastern Washington
Griz win final road match of the season
4/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
The University of Montana women's tennis team played its final regular season road match late Sunday afternoon in Cheney, Washington, where they defeated the host Eagles 6-1.
Montana (8-10/6-2 BSC) finished its final road trip with a 2-1 record, and Sunday's win helped them rebound from a loss to Idaho on Friday. Coach Steve Ascher thought his teams performance increased from the loss.
"I thought we played better today," Ascher said. "We had what felt like a good day of practice yesterday and we went over some new ideas kind of continuing to just put forth ideas that we need to make happen."
The Griz are always thinking of ideas that they can execute on the court, but a major part of the victory Sunday was their ability to perform in clutch situations.
"Then we just need to continue to get people to step up when matches are close," Ascher said. "We pulled out a three-setter and a couple of tiebreakers today, so that's what we need to continue to do, is to play good in the clutch."
Montana was able to win all three doubles matches to claim the first point of the dual. They then won the bottom five singles matches to secure the 6-1 final. The match was the final road test of the season for Montana, who will finish the season with three consecutive home matches.
"It's going to be good," Ascher said. "I don't think people realize how much energy you expend just in the process of traveling itself. We've had a ton of road matches this year and we're in a good position in the conference. It will be really nice to play at home again, and we have to continue to use these three matches to set the tone and pick up a few ideas before we head down to conference."
Montana has already clinched a spot in the conference tournament, but the final week will be crucial in regards to seeding. The Griz are currently in fourth place in the Big Sky, just a half-game behind Northern Arizona for third. Montana hosts Northern Arizona in the season finale on April 19.
Montana 6, @ Eastern Washington 1
Cheney, Washington
April 12, 2015
Singles
1. Janaya Smith (EWU) def. Precious Gbadamosi (UM) 6-0, 6-2
2. Sasha Carter (UM) def. Dani Young (EWU) 6-3, 6-4
3. Laurence Pelchat (UM) def. Erin Blessing (EWU) 7-6 (3), 6-2
4. Hannah Sulz (UM) def. Rachel Swindell (EWU) 6-2, 6-4
5. Cam Kincaid (UM) def. Katrina Domingo (EWU) 6-3, 6-1
6. Catherine Orfanos (UM) def. Carolina Lopez (EWU) 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (12-10)
Doubles
1. Gbadamosi/Pelchat (UM) def. Smith/Domingo (EWU) 6-0
2. Carter/Orfanos (UM) def. Young/Blessing (EWU) 6-2
3. Sulz/Kincaid (UM) def. Swindell/Lopez (EWU) 6-1
Players Mentioned
