Men’s tennis opens season at Utah with high expectations

The 2016-17 edition of the Montana Grizzlies men's tennis team takes the court for the first time this weekend with a trimmed down squad compared to last season's robust 12-man player pool.

This year's Griz can be compared to a fine espresso – strong in small quantities – with a roster of eight, allowing coaches more face time per player. And like espresso, head coach Kris Nord is hoping a more concentrated team results in a tastier product come Big Sky Conference tournament time in April.

"You always want to have a chance, and I think this crew has a chance to be really good, we just have to buy into the process of getting better from now through April.

"We're good enough to go challenge for a conference championship, and that's what we want. But if we don't get better, we could also be spectators when the tournament rolls around. The Big Sky is getting better. It's deep," said Nord.

The Griz return five faces from last year's team that went 8-3 in the Big Sky (9-8 overall), and produced some big wins, including a 7-0 whitewash of perennial powerhouse Sacramento State on their home court.

Three talented newcomers join the squad to bolster the solid group of returners, and the mix is shaping up to be one of the most competitive Nord has produced in his 35 years at the helm.

THE RETURNERS

Montana will be led by senior Peter Mimnagh-Fleming, who is the last remaining vestige of the squad that took home the Big Sky tournament championship in 2014. The 2015 All-Big Sky honorable mention and three-time academic all-conference selection from Ireland is the program's only senior this season.

"We started our first team meeting this year by talking about finishing with Pete where we started with Pete, which is going back to the Big Sky tournament and trying to win it.

"We're asking him to be the leader off the court this year, and we're working on a couple things on the court to keep him dialed-in to being a really good on-court representative for the younger kids. He's strong and he's got the talent. The sky's the limit with him if he keeps working on some small things."

The Griz also return another key member of last year's crew in junior Victor Casadevall, who earned first-team All-Big Sky honors in his sophomore campaign by going 10-0 in league play and 14-2 overall at the No. 5 spot in the lineup.

With last year's undefeated league run behind him, Nord is bumping the Spaniard up the depth chart and will look to him to provide added leadership in 2016-17 as he competes for the No. 1 singles spot.

"From his first semester here to now he's really improved, especially in his net game. He's healthier and stronger. I'm excited to see how he handles playing higher in the lineup because I think he's got the tools to do that," said Nord.

Also coming off a strong sophomore year is Yannick Schmidl, who sat atop the depth chart in doubles competition for much of last season (with partner Alexander Canellopoulos) en route to a 14-4 record (9-1 BSC), and played a crucial role in securing mid-level points on the No. 3 court in singles.

"When he was on last year, boy he had great wins," said Nord of the German junior. "He plays a fairly high-risk game and we're trying to moderate that a little bit. He's one of the guys we really need to show a little patience. He's got the game to do that. He's a strong kid."

Schmidl's doubles partner Alex Canellopoulos returns for his sophomore season as the only true freshman to crack the top six last year, going 7-3 in Big Sky singles (8-8 overall) and 9-1 in league doubles.

Canellopoulos was challenged in the offseason to add meat to his imposing 6-3 frame, and the native of Greece has done just that. Nord believes the added strength will give the sophomore more stamina in the business end of the season. Nord also believes he is one of those players that is a question mark, in that, he could compete for a No. 1 spot just as easily as he could find himself at No. 6.

"He doesn't have a lot of weaknesses in his game. He's got a big forehand and he moves well. He could be top of the line, could be middle of the line. It goes back to our depth issue or lack of a depth issue. We have a lot of guys who can vie for a top spot and he's one of them."

Also returning for his sophomore season after missing the cut as a freshman is Jacob Schoenherr out of Boise.

Schoenherr will be one of the beneficiaries of the smaller, tighter, squad size with coaches able to develop his raw talent into a finished product on the court. With fewer faces, quality reps are now being spread more evenly and young prospects like him will only get better because of it says Nord.

"Our practices have been more productive in the last two weeks than all our practices last year. I thought last year we were trying to accommodate too many people and too many kids that weren't dialed in at practice, and that became an issue for everyone. Quality reps weren't happening at practice and I feel like it's happening now.

"Jacob was challenged to change a lot of things in his game. He came in fairly one dimensional, but he worked his tail off and he's come back and it's there. Now he's got to get used to playing that way. I think the kid's going to get better every week."

NEW FACES

Montana welcomes three new players to the fold this season but don't let the word "newcomer" make you think these three are lacking in experience. With a junior transfer and two new freshmen with national-level matches under their belts, Nord is expecting these new faces to make a big impact.

Leading the way is junior Ignacio Tejerina, a transfer from Union College, a NAIA school in Kentucky who was a two-time All-Appalachian Athletic Conference performer in his first two seasons.

"Nacho" is unique to the Griz in that he's the only left-hander on the team, adding a twist not often found in Big Sky tennis.

"Having a lefty on the team is real important for doubles, and Nacho knows how to exploit that," said Nord. "I love his game though. We're all working on something, but he's got a good base game. He's going to make people win points."

Also new to the program are true freshmen Ludvig Hallgren (Sweden) and Max Korkh (British Columbia), who were added to the program over the summer, expecting them to make an immediate impact.

Nord has already noted Hallgren's maturity on and off the court, a result of adjusting to new environments and new tennis programs as his family moved around the globe. Hallgren also brings national-level experience as a two-time semifinalist in the U-18 and U-16 doubles brackets of the Swedish Championship.

"I'm real hopeful for Ludvig. He's a solid kid and doesn't feel like a freshman out there. He seems more mature and plays more mature than that, and that's what we need.

"He doesn't beat himself, which I love. I like his attitude at practice, he's working hard. He's got a good serve and no glaring weakness in the game. I think he's a gamer, and we'll see where he fits."

Korkh comes to Montana as the one-time No. 20 U-18 player in Canada, and a long-time member of Team British Columbia who was a national doubles finalist. A big player (6-foot-3) with a bigger serve, Korkh will get the fall season to earn a spot in the top six for the spring.

"The sky's the limit with him. He plays a big game. My quick snapshot is that he needs to grind better and not rely on his huge serve. In college, that's going to come back more often, so you have to vary it and you have to work harder.

"He's one of the kids that could vie for a top spot, or he could vie for a bottom spot. That's one of our big question marks. But I love our freshmen right now. They're all going to have a chance to contribute," added Nord.

THE PLAN

Readers may have noticed the theme of patience running through Nord's thoughts on this year's class. Patience will a word the players hear a lot this season, as the Grizzlies install a game plan to be patient in the sets, and grind out points as opposed to swinging for the fences at every opportunity.

It's a shift in mindset, and Nord believes it will pay big dividends in team college tennis, where the No. 6 point counts just as much as the No. 1 point, and the doubles point can make or break a match right from the start.

"I feel like we were trying to be a bunch of home run hitters last year, to use the baseball equivalency. I'd rather have our guys be more patient, make contact and hit some singles out there. We've got guys that can really play, but we got impatient last year and I want to see that improve.

"Everybody would like to get it done a little sooner, but we really have to buy into the idea that there is no rush in what we're doing. We just have to work hard for every point."

THE SEASON

Nord has put together a 2016-17 season loaded with strong opponents to prepare the Griz for another run at the Big Sky title.

In the fall, Montana's returners and new faces alike will get the opportunity to lay claim to a spot on the depth chart in a slate of four challenging tournaments beginning at the University of Utah this weekend.

On October 7, UM will return to the Dar Walters Classic hosted by Boise State to face some of the top talent in the Northwest, before heading to the ITA Mountain Regional tournament in Las Vegas on Oct. 19.

The fall season is capped off on Oct. 28 with a trip to Spokane to play in the Bulldog Classic at Gonzaga.

"Our schedule is going to challenge our guys. We have 22 good matches, and we have a schedule that will give us the chance to improve," said Nord.

In the spring, the Griz will host eight home duals, including five Big Sky Conference matchups. The home schedule is highlighted by a first-ever match against the touring Radford University Highlanders out of Radford, Virginia.

In non-conference action, the Griz will get the chance to test themselves against one of the nation's perennial top-20 teams in Oklahoma State on a neutral court when the Griz set off for Las Vegas to play OSU and UNLV in the same weekend.

In conference play, Montana will have the home court advantage against the Big Sky's best when Northern Arizona, Sacramento State and last year's league champion Weber State all pay a visit to the Garden City.

UTAH THIS WEEK

The Griz start the whole process of returning to the top of the Big Sky this weekend at Utah where they will be matched up against the 2015-16 Mountain West conference champions, Utah State, the always-powerful Utes of the Pac-12 and Big Sky champs Weber State in a four-team tournament where all eight Grizzlies will get two singles matches and a doubles match per-day over the three-day schedule.

In his first outing with a strong, but relatively unknown squad, Nord is looking for the basics out his players this week, as he starts brewing that winning cup of espresso for April

"We want to feel like our guys fought hard in every match," says Nord. "We don't want to have let downs, we want to stay dialed in and just compete hard in every single match. If they do that, I'm going to be happy. I don't care about the wins and losses right now. I want us to go compete well and be consistent from day one to day three."

Men’s tennis opens season at Utah with high expectations

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Players Mentioned

Alex Canellopoulos

Victor Casadevall

Ludvig Hallgren

Max Korkh

Peter Mimnagh-Fleming

Yannick Schmidl

Jacob Schoenherr

Ignacio Tejerina

University of Montana Athletics