Friday, January 29
Spokane, Wash.
4:00 PM (MT)
Montana
at
Gonzaga
Bulldogs, Wolf Pack on deck for women’s tennis team
1/28/2016 4:32:00 PM | Women's Tennis
The Montana women's tennis team, which opened its season last weekend with a pair of matches in Pullman, will face Gonzaga and Nevada this week in Spokane.
The Grizzlies (0-2) will play the Bulldogs (1-1) at 4 p.m. (MT) on Friday and the Wolf Pack (0-2) at noon (MT) on Saturday. Nevada opens its road trip with a match at Eastern Washington Friday afternoon, then plays Gonzaga on Sunday.
Both of Montana's matches will be played inside Gonzaga's new, six-court Stevens Center, which opened in 2014. Friday's match against Gonzaga will have both live stats and live video. Links to both services can be found on gogriz.com.
Montana opened its season last weekend with a 7-0 loss at Washington State on Saturday, then a 5-2 setback to Eastern Washington on Sunday in a nonconference, neutral-site match.
The latter was a somewhat surprising result, considering Montana was picked third and Eastern 10th in the preseason Big Sky Conference coaches' poll. The Eagles, who had the benefit of two matches earlier in January, hadn't defeated the Grizzlies since 2009.
"It was disappointing and kind of a shock to everyone," says junior Hannah Sulz. "Eastern came out ready to go. They were in their routine and performed like they had played a few more matches than us. We felt a little out of it.
"It was a wakeup call, but like (coach Steve Ascher) said, we're trying to peak for our conference matches. We're confident our play will get better. That match just shined a light on a few things we need to work on."
Ascher used a lineup in Pullman of junior Francis Dean at No. 1 singles, senior Haley Driver at No. 2, Sulz at No. 3, freshman Lidia Dukic at No. 4, sophomore Cam Kincaid at No. 5 and sophomore Catherine Orfanos at No. 6.
Driver, in three sets, and Dukic, in straight sets, picked up Montana's only singles victories last weekend, both coming against the Eagles.
With Dean a transfer from Pacific, Driver coming off a redshirt season and Dukic a freshman, it created a new on-court dynamic that will be an ongoing work in progress.
"We're still kind of a new team, so we hadn't been in a lineup in a dual format before last weekend," says Sulz. "It's an adjustment getting to know who's playing beside you. The energy and atmosphere you need to create is new as well."
In doubles, Dean and Driver were paired up at No. 1, Sulz and Kincaid at No. 2, Orfanos and Dukic at No. 3. Dean and Driver won 7-5 against Eastern Washington and were deadlocked at 5-5 with Washington State's top team on Saturday when Nos. 2-3 went final. No. 1 went unfinished.
Gonzaga will be making its home debut on Friday after winning at Utah State and falling at No. 51 Utah two weeks ago. Sophie Whittle, a freshman from Nipomo, Calif., plays No. 1 singles for the Zags and picked up the only point in their 6-1 loss to the Utes.
Montana is 3-3 against Gonzaga under Ascher, who is in his eighth year. Gonzaga won 7-0 at the Stevens Center last season to snap the Grizzlies' three-match winning streak in the series.
Nevada is winless on the season after losing 4-3 to Hawaii and 7-0 to Washington two weeks ago in Honolulu.
Montana has faced the Wolf Pack just twice previously under Ascher. Nevada won 6-1 in Pullman in 2013 and 5-2 in Reno in 2014.
"I feel like we were all a little rusty last weekend, so having two matches under our belt will really help," says Sulz. "We're playing two really good teams this weekend. Our mindset is we just want to get better for the conference matches to come."
Montana will play just three matches in February, all at home. Two of them will be Big Sky Conference opponents. The Grizzlies will host North Dakota on Friday, Feb. 12, and Montana State and Lewis-Clark State on Saturday, Feb. 27.
The Grizzlies (0-2) will play the Bulldogs (1-1) at 4 p.m. (MT) on Friday and the Wolf Pack (0-2) at noon (MT) on Saturday. Nevada opens its road trip with a match at Eastern Washington Friday afternoon, then plays Gonzaga on Sunday.
Both of Montana's matches will be played inside Gonzaga's new, six-court Stevens Center, which opened in 2014. Friday's match against Gonzaga will have both live stats and live video. Links to both services can be found on gogriz.com.
Montana opened its season last weekend with a 7-0 loss at Washington State on Saturday, then a 5-2 setback to Eastern Washington on Sunday in a nonconference, neutral-site match.
The latter was a somewhat surprising result, considering Montana was picked third and Eastern 10th in the preseason Big Sky Conference coaches' poll. The Eagles, who had the benefit of two matches earlier in January, hadn't defeated the Grizzlies since 2009.
"It was disappointing and kind of a shock to everyone," says junior Hannah Sulz. "Eastern came out ready to go. They were in their routine and performed like they had played a few more matches than us. We felt a little out of it.
"It was a wakeup call, but like (coach Steve Ascher) said, we're trying to peak for our conference matches. We're confident our play will get better. That match just shined a light on a few things we need to work on."
Ascher used a lineup in Pullman of junior Francis Dean at No. 1 singles, senior Haley Driver at No. 2, Sulz at No. 3, freshman Lidia Dukic at No. 4, sophomore Cam Kincaid at No. 5 and sophomore Catherine Orfanos at No. 6.
Driver, in three sets, and Dukic, in straight sets, picked up Montana's only singles victories last weekend, both coming against the Eagles.
With Dean a transfer from Pacific, Driver coming off a redshirt season and Dukic a freshman, it created a new on-court dynamic that will be an ongoing work in progress.
"We're still kind of a new team, so we hadn't been in a lineup in a dual format before last weekend," says Sulz. "It's an adjustment getting to know who's playing beside you. The energy and atmosphere you need to create is new as well."
In doubles, Dean and Driver were paired up at No. 1, Sulz and Kincaid at No. 2, Orfanos and Dukic at No. 3. Dean and Driver won 7-5 against Eastern Washington and were deadlocked at 5-5 with Washington State's top team on Saturday when Nos. 2-3 went final. No. 1 went unfinished.
Gonzaga will be making its home debut on Friday after winning at Utah State and falling at No. 51 Utah two weeks ago. Sophie Whittle, a freshman from Nipomo, Calif., plays No. 1 singles for the Zags and picked up the only point in their 6-1 loss to the Utes.
Montana is 3-3 against Gonzaga under Ascher, who is in his eighth year. Gonzaga won 7-0 at the Stevens Center last season to snap the Grizzlies' three-match winning streak in the series.
Nevada is winless on the season after losing 4-3 to Hawaii and 7-0 to Washington two weeks ago in Honolulu.
Montana has faced the Wolf Pack just twice previously under Ascher. Nevada won 6-1 in Pullman in 2013 and 5-2 in Reno in 2014.
"I feel like we were all a little rusty last weekend, so having two matches under our belt will really help," says Sulz. "We're playing two really good teams this weekend. Our mindset is we just want to get better for the conference matches to come."
Montana will play just three matches in February, all at home. Two of them will be Big Sky Conference opponents. The Grizzlies will host North Dakota on Friday, Feb. 12, and Montana State and Lewis-Clark State on Saturday, Feb. 27.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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