Griz storm back to beat Cats in come-from-behind win

Saturday, February 25

Missoula, Mont.

Noon

Montana

Montana State

Griz storm back to beat Cats in come-from-behind win

2/25/2017 5:33:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana men's tennis team (4-2, 2-1 BSC) won four-straight singles matches after being swept in the doubles competition by rival Montana State (2-7, 1-1 BSC ) to score a 6-1, come-from-behind victory in a nonconference match at PEAK Racquet Club in Missoula on Saturday.

The Bobcats stormed out of the gates and cruised to three wins in the doubles competition to earn the crucial point, giving them an early 1-0 lead.

But a fiery speech from Montana head coach Kris Nord at the intermission gave the Griz the spark they needed to win four-straight singles matches, sealing the win at 4-1 before eventually sweeping the singles round 6-1.

"It was not our best doubles at all. I was pretty fired up and frustrated with some of the decision making, so I challenged the guys to respond," said Nord.

"They came out and responded with an exclamation mark. It was fun to watch."

Yannick Schmidl and Alexander Canellopoulos dropped their first Big Sky match of the year as a doubles pairing 6-3 on the No. 1 court.

On the No. 2 court, Peter Mimnagh-Fleming and Max Korkh dropped their first doubles match of the year to date, falling 6-2 to the Bobcats' Torrico/Flink pair, sealing the point for MSU.

(2/25/2017) MTEN: vs. Montana State (2.25.17)

After Nord's impassioned halftime speech, the Grizzlies began their comeback in the singles competition, with UM's Big Sky Player of the Week nominee Max Korkh cruising to a straight-sets win over Alex Flink 6-3, 6-4 on the No. 4 court.

The Griz received a boost of momentum when Schmidl rebounded from two straight losses on the No. 1 court by running roughshod over MSU's Rok Sitar 6-4, 6-1, putting UM up 2-1.

Montana's standout Spaniard Victor Casadevall got back to his winning ways on the No. 2 court, fighting back after dropping the first set to beat MSU's Kellen Bates in three sets 2-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Mimnagh-Fleming, Montana's only senior, sealed the win for the Griz on the No. 3 court, beating MSU's Adrian Torrico in another come from behind, three-set marathon, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1.

Canellopoulos and Ignacio Tejerina sealed the singles sweep for UM on courts five and six, both easing to straight-set wins to complete UM's 6-1 victory.

Montana returns home next week, hosting Southern Utah on March 3 and Northern Arizona the following day in Big Sky Conference action.

Montana 6, Montana State 1

Singles competition
1. SCHMIDL, Yannick (UM) def. SITAR, Rok (MSU) 6-4, 6-1
2. CASADEVALL, Victor (UM) def. BATES, Kellen (MSU) 2-6, 7-5, 6-2
3. MIMNAGH-FLEMING, P. (UM) def. TORRICO, Adrian (MSU) 6-4, 6-7, 6-1
4. KORKH, Max (UM) def. FLINK, Alexander (MSU) 6-3, 6-4
5. CANELLOPOULOS, Alex (UM) def. PARLKLO, Kasper (MSU) 6-2, 6-3
6. TEJERINA, Ignacio (UM) def. PETRAK, Max (MSU) 6-3, 6-3
Order of Finish: 4, 1, 2, 3

Doubles competition
1. SITAR, Rok/BATES, Kellen (MSU) def. SCHMIDL, Yannick/CANELLOPOULOS, Alex (UM) 6-3
2. TORRICO, Adrian/FLINK, Alexander (MSU) def. MIMNAGH-FLEMING, P./KORKH, Max (UM) 6-2
3. PARLKLO, Kasper/HARVALA, Dylan (MSU) def. CASADEVALL, Victor/TEJERINA, Ignacio (UM) 7-5

Montana State 2-7
Montana 4-2