Griz look to finish strong at Bulldog Classic

Bolstered by confidence from the most successful fall season in program history, the Montana men's tennis team hits the courts one last time before the winter break at Gonzaga's Bulldog Classic in Spokane this weekend.

The eight-team Bulldog Classic will feature A and B singles draws of 32, and a doubles draw as well.

Fans can tune in to watch every match LIVE and FREE of charge via web stream, which also features a live online scoreboard. Links to the stream and scoreboard can be found at GoGriz.com.

The Griz will cap the tournament season looking to prove themselves against the best competition the Pacific Northwest has to offer at Gonzaga's pristine Stevens Tennis Center.

The draws feature two defending conference champions in the Portland Pilots - last year's winners of the uber-competitive West Coast Conference - and the Idaho Vandals, who upended the Griz in the Big Sky championship match last spring. Also set to compete is Seattle, Portland State, Eastern Washington, Montana State and host Gonzaga.

With each player on Montana's six-man roster already claiming wins over stiff competition this fall, the Griz enter the tournament with high expectations for themselves.

"I think this fall has shown us we can win against even the biggest teams, and we're all pretty excited about that," said sophomore Max Korkh who won the Black "B" bracket at Idaho State's Bank of Commerce Tournament earlier this fall.

"It's also pretty exciting going into the conference season now because we know we can take on those top teams and top players. I think we're all really excited."

Likewise, Interim head coach Jason Brown has seen his team come out on the winning end against the best in the region, and has his team believing more is possible.

Brown, who has served as an assistant for five years before taking over during head coach Kris Nord's sabbatical to coach the UM Golf team, agrees that the team's expectations have changed from years past.

"I think everybody has played so well this fall; I don't think there is anyone on our team that doesn't believe we can go win. Win the doubles, win the singles. It's not like some years where some guys were just hoping to win a match," said Brown. "I don't think any of these guys will be satisfied without making some deep runs."

Victor Casadevall will lead the Griz into action at Gonzaga following a top-eight finish at the regional tournament last week, the best-ever finish for a Montana tennis player in the fall's preeminent tournament.

Casadevall will open play in the singles "A" bracket with a solid draw against Boise State's Ryland McDermott, who played on the No. 6 court for the Broncos last season.

Alexander Canellopoulos heads to Spokane having knocked off Pac-12 opponent Santiago Sierra of Utah last week at the regional tourney. He'll also receive a favorable first-round draw in the "A" bracket against Seattle freshman Colton Weeldreyer.

Korkh will also face a freshman from Seattle in the first round of the "A" bracket in Emilio Monroy, but if he were to advance, would meet a challenge in Gonzaga's Ruadhan O'Sullivan, who made the doubles semifinal at the Northwest regional tournament a week ago.

Sophomore Ludvig Hallgren looks to keep his momentum going as well after knocking off BYU's no. 18 seed at regionals. Hallgren will open with a Griz/Cat matchup against MSU's Marcos Zelver in the "B" bracket.

Canellopoulos along with his dynamic doubles partner Yannick Schmidl have earned a first-round bye in the doubles bracket, with a match against either the Homedes/Perkins pair from Gonzaga or the Edwards/West pair from Portland State coming in the round of 16.

Action starts at 8 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 27-28, and championship rounds starting at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 29.

Following the Bulldog Classic, Montana will begin the road back to the Big Sky Championship on February 10 with the beginning of the duals season.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alex Canellopoulos

Victor Casadevall

Ludvig Hallgren

Max Korkh

Yannick Schmidl

University of Montana Athletics