Griz look to build momentum on Utah/Nevada trip

The Montana men's tennis team is back in action this weekend after a mid-season bye week, traveling south for a Big Sky Conference showdown at Southern Utah on Thursday, then heading down to Las Vegas for a final nonconference slate against New Mexico and UNLV on Friday and Saturday, March 25 - 26.

Action at Southern Utah gets underway at noon MT on Thursday. On Friday the match against UNM gets started at 5 p.m. MT, and on Saturday the Griz will face UNLV starting at 11 a.m. MT.

WHAT'S AT STAKE: At 1-2 in conference, and 2-4 overall, the Griz are looking to position themselves to make a run at the Big Sky tournament. The week's road trip offers an opportunity to move to 2-2 in league play with a strong showing against Southern Utah (0-11, 0-5), and the chance to prepare for the season's final onslaught of league matches with a pair of nonconference matches that will test the Griz against some of the best in the region.

"I'm happy with where our singles is overall," said Montana head coach Kris Nord. "Doubles, we've had a few hiccups here and there, but the test is coming up over the next month. We have to win certain matches if we want to get to Big Sky. I have full confidence in this group that if we get to Big Sky, to be able to go there and win the thing if we play well."

In doubles matches this season, the Griz are an overall 27-40, led by the Alex Canellopoulos/Yannick Schmidl pair who hold the team's best dubs record at 7-2, followed by Peter Mimnagh-Fleming and Tomasz Soltyka with a 6-6 dubs record.

Senior Semion Branzburg also points to the doubles as a key for the Griz heading into the business end of the season.

"We've got to get the doubles points. I think that's something we've been lacking so far. I think we lost those two conference matches because we couldn't get that doubles point, and that was a key."

As the Griz near the halfway point of the calendar, Montana's Friday/Saturday series against two of the top teams in the Mountain West Conference will provide a litmus test for UM. New Mexico (12-10) and UNLV (5-6) currently sit in second and third place respectively in the MWC.

With matches against four of the top five Big Sky Conference teams still to come on the Grizzlies' schedule, Coach Nord is looking for his squad to hit their stride heading south this weekend.

"We're going to see that level of tennis, and we have to use each match to get a little bit better. I need guys getting a little more confident as the season progresses. We've just got to be on the upswing."

LAST TIME OUT: The Griz split a home series two weeks ago, brushing aside North Dakota 7-0, before taking the Big Sky's current third place Idaho Vandals to the wire before falling 4-3 in the final set at the PEAK Racquet Club in Missoula.

ONES TO WATCH: In the drive to earn the doubles point, the freshman/sophomore duo of Alex Canellopoulos and Yannick Schmidl have been UM's leaders, currently ranked as the top pairing at No. 1 in the Big Sky at 4-0, and the only UM doubles pair sitting in the overall doubles top-10.

Both sitting at 4-2, sophomore Victor Casadevall and Schmidl are ranked in the Big Sky top-10 in overall singles leaders.

"Our team chemistry is strong enough to go out there and get the three points in singles every time, and I think that's something we should work on," added Branzburg.

"I think we're there. Our tennis level is there, our support from our teammates is there, it's just a matter of putting a few matches together and hopefully we finish on the top, not just make the playoffs, and go win a championship this year."

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Players Mentioned

Semion Branzburg

Victor Casadevall

Peter Mimnagh-Fleming

Yannick Schmidl

Tomasz Soltyka

University of Montana Athletics