Griz beat Cats 4-3 in Brawl of the Wild

Sunday, April 17

Missoula, Mont.

Noon

Montana

Montana State *

4/17/2016 7:54:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: gogriz.com

The Montana men's tennis team put the "Brawl" in "Brawl of the Wild" on Sunday, scrapping their way to a tense 4-3 win over the visiting Montana State Bobcats in a match that wasn't decided until the penultimate finish of the afternoon.

The win moves the Big Sky's No. 3 ranked Griz to 8-2 in league play (9-6 overall) with only a single match remaining before the conference tournament gets underway in Gold River, Calif., in two weeks time.

Both the Griz and the Cats have booked their tickets to the Big Sky championship tournament, with seeding not decided until the final round of league action wraps up next week.

Once again the Grizzlies were made to work before coming away with the win over the Cats, sweeping the doubles competition in a nail biter for the crucial point before weathering a Bobcat fight back in the singles.

When the Griz and Cats met in nonconference action earlier in the spring, Montana came away with a 5-2 win in a similar fashion, taking a tight sweep of the doubles before fending off MSU in the singles. This time the Griz were prepared for a tougher battle with the Cats, and that's exactly what they got.

"We knew it wasn't going to be a repeat of what happened in Bozeman six weeks ago," said Montana head coach Kris Nord. "We hung in there, just like we've been doing all year. I'd like to be a little more convincing in our dubs, but we'll take the win."

On senior day in Missoula, the senior duo of Semion Branzburg and Tomasz Soltyka played their last home match as Grizzlies, and didn't waste any time picking up a win in the doubles, defeating the Sitar/Harvala pair 6-2 in short order.

Yannick Schmidl and Alexander Canellopoulos clinched the point for UM and kept their unblemished Big Sky win streak alive, grinding out a 6-4 come-from-behind win at No. 1 after falling down in the match early.

Meanwhile on court No. 2, Victor Casadevall and Peter Mimnagh-Fleming were in a fight for their lives, eventually pulling out a 7-6 (7) win in a tiebreaker.

Had the dual at No. 1 not gone in Montana's favor, the tenor of the entire match could have swung the way of the Bobcats. However, the Griz were able to take the momentum of three doubles wins with them into the singles competition, where they would need every bit.

Soltyka picked up his second win on senior day to start the singles, cruising by Missoula Hellgate product Dylan Harvala 6-1, 6-2 on the No. 6 court. That win put the Griz out to a 2-0 lead after collecting the doubles point.

Montana State junior and Kalispell product Kellen Bates kept up his winning ways over Montana at the No. 1 singles spot, defeating Semion Branzburg 6-3, 6-1. Bates defeated Mimnagh-Fleming in three sets when the two teams met back in February.

The Bobcats' Harry James then topped Yannick Schmidl 4-6, 5-7 on the No. 3 court to tie the match at 2-2, and the pressure mounted on the Griz as the final three matches wound down.

Casadevall then put the Griz back on top 3-2, extending his Big Sky win streak to 12-straight matches with come-from-behind win over Mateus Ceolin 2-6, 6-2, 6-2.

With the final two matches of the day moving into three sets, it was still anyone's game at that point.

Peter Mimnagh-Fleming then sealed the win for Montana on court No. 2, rallying from a 1-6 loss in the second set to win the third set 6-2, and the match 7-5, 1-6, 6-2 over MSU's Alex Flink.

After the match was sealed in Montana's favor, it ended on a sour note as Canellopoulos dropped a lead in the third set to fall 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) in the final finish of the day to MSU's Rok Sitar.

"We lost focus when we were up in that match, and I told him (Canellopoulos) that's a tough learning lesson, but let's not do it again at Weber or Sac. I wanted a 5-2 win instead of a 4-3, but we'll take the W," said Coach Nord.

"It was a dogfight. All our matches typically are. We're not going to blow anybody out, but I like how we hang and do just enough to win. I'm proud of the guys. It's been a good season."

At 8-2 in conference play the Grizzlies remain in with a chance at a share of the Big Sky regular season championship. Montana heads to play league-leaders Weber State (9-1) for a single match next Saturday. Idaho is sitting second on the Big Sky table at 8-2 after dealing Weber their first conference loss of the season.

With the Grizzlies traveling to Weber next week, and Idaho facing Idaho State to finish their schedule, there is the potential of a three-way tie at 9-2 if the Griz can pull off a victory on the road.

Montana and Weber State are scheduled to square off at noon next Saturday, April 23, in Ogden, Utah.

Montana State vs. Montana
April 17, 2016 at Missoula, Mont. (Lindsay Tennis Center)

Montana 4, Montana State 3

Singles competition

1. Kellen Bates (MSU) def. Semion Branzburg (UM) 6-3, 6-1
2. Peter Mimnagh-Fleming (UM) def. Alexander Flink (MSU) 7-5, 1-6, 6-2
3. Harry James (MSU) def. Yannick Schmidl (UM) 4-6, 5-7
4. Rok Sitar (MSU) def. Alexander Canellopoulos (UM) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2)
5. Victor Casadevall (UM) def. Mateus Ceolin (MSU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
6. Tomasz Soltyka (UM) def. Dylan Harvala (MSU) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles competition

1. Yannick Schmidl / Alex Canellopoulos (UM) def. Alexander Flink / Harry James (MSU) 6-4
2. Victor Casadevall / Peter Mimnagh-Fleming (UM) def. Kellen Bates/ Mateus Ceolin (MSU) 7-6 (7)
3. Semion Branzburg / Tomasz Soltyka (UM) def. Rok Sitar / Dylan Harvala (MSU) 6-2

Match Notes:
Montana State 5-11, 5-4 BSC
Montana 9-6, 8-2 BSC

Order of finish:
Doubles: 3, 1, 2
Singles: 6, 1, 3, 5, 2, 4