Griz set to face strong field at Dar Walters Classic

COMPLETE DRAWS | LIVE RESULTS

The Montana men's tennis team takes the court this weekend for just the second time this fall season at the fourth annual Dar Walters Classic in Boise, Idaho, hosted by Boise State Friday – Sunday, Oct. 7-9.

Over 90 student-athletes representing 15 schools from Air Force to Whitman converge on the Appleton Tennis Center and Julia Davis Park in Boise. Montana will bring its entire eight-man squad, looking for development in this year's depth chart.

Head coach Kris Nord will also get the chance to take early looks at several Big Sky teams at the tournament, including defending champion Weber State, Montana State, Idaho and Idaho State. Portland State and Sothern Utah will also represent the Big Sky.

Rounding out a strong field this year are the Utah Utes out of the Pac-12, Air Force, BSU, Nevada and Utah State of the Mountain West Conference, BYU, Lewis-Clark State and Whitman College.

The 15 teams represented will battle through two flights of singles action, along with one flight of doubles over a three-day stretch, giving the Grizzlies plenty of action to build off after an inconsistent start to the fall season at Utah in September.

"I think the two things we need to focus on this week would be more energetic doubles – showing a little more fight in doubles - which I didn't think we had Utah," said Nord.

"The other thing is to be more consistent from day one to day three of the tournament. We had really good singles performances in Utah, then we'd have really big drop offs the next match or the next day."

Boise native and Griz sophomore Jacob Schoenherr returns to his hometown looking to build on the success he had in Utah to open the fall season.

In Salt Lake, Schoenherr won flight D with a 3-1 record to complete Montana's highest finish.

As a freshman who didn't make the cut last season, Schoenherr is an example of the kind of depth the Grizzlies have this season, where the No. 6 court could be playing on the No. 1 court on any given day, and vice-versa.

Since the start of the fall season, that depth has gotten tighter as competition for spots at practice has heated up.

"Us coaches set a rough ladder in our mind going into fall, and I feel like there's less gap between our eight player and our one player now," says Nord.

"I think the bottom of the lineup is stronger. We're deeper, and practices have been really productive this fall."

Victor Casadevall, who ran through the Big Sky undefeated last season will be Montana's highest-seeded player this week, earning a two-seed in the B flight. His first matchup of the weekend matches him up with Alexi Turc of Nevada-Reno at 10 a.m. on Friday.

Other seeded players for the Griz include Ignacio Tejerina as a six seed and senior Peter Mimnagh-Fleming as a seven seed in the B flight.

The Dar Walters Classic will be Nord's last chance to evaluate this year's squad against unfamiliar opponents as he develops the depth chart ahead of the ITA Mountain Regionals in two weeks' time in Las Vegas.

"We need some competition against another face. We've butted heads against each other now for a couple of weeks, so I think the guys are looking forward to a big tournament," said Nord.

"We're going to work on being smarter when It's not going well. Setting better targets during the point. Thinking about how to play the other opponent, analyzing things, keeping your poise up and figuring the problem out. Grinding is huge. It's not pretty it's not easy, it takes lots of energy, but it's what wins matches."

Fans can follow the action from Boise with live updates HERE.

Griz set to face strong field at Dar Walters Classic

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Victor Casadevall

Peter Mimnagh-Fleming

Jacob Schoenherr

Ignacio Tejerina

University of Montana Athletics