Broncos take hard-fought 6-1 win over Grizzlies

Sunday, March 12

Missoula, Mont.

9:00 AM

Montana

Boise State

3/12/2017 3:33:00 PM | Women's Tennis

By: Montana Sports Information

Boise State women's tennis coach Beck Roghaar, whose teams have been playing Montana in tournaments and duals the last seven years, knew what his Broncos were in for on Sunday at the Peak Racquet Club in Missoula. That's why he scheduled the match.

"We came up to collect the experience and the battle, so we got what we wanted to get out of it," said Roghaar, whose team will return home with a 6-1 win in a match that was tighter than the final score suggests.

"You always hope you win, but at the same time you can't expect to win, especially against (Montana coach Steve Ascher's) teams. He really does a good job of getting his players to compete."

Boise State (8-4), which had four freshmen among its six players who made the trip, pulled out a 6-4 win at No. 3 to win the doubles point and had to go to three sets to pull out victories at No. 1, 2 and 3 singles, with No. 4 being decided only after a second-set tiebreaker.

Montana (2-12) has won the doubles point just three times this season, but the Grizzlies were in a position to collect win No. 4 on Sunday.

Playing at No. 1, Catherine Orfanos and Hannah Sulz won for the third time in their last four decisions, picking up a one-sided 6-2 victory, which offset Montana's 6-2 loss at No. 2.

Trailing 5-4 at No. 3, Nathalie Joanlanne and Cam Kincaid had a break-point opportunity that could have evened it at 5-5 and given the Grizzlies the serve, but the Broncos held on to win the game and go up 1-0 in the overall scoring.

Orfanos opened play at No. 3 singles with a 6-4 win and Sulz, at No. 1, and Lidia Dukic, at No. 2, both won their second sets after dropping their openers. The Broncos would pull out wins in all three matches.

Joanlanne, at No. 4, dropped a 6-0 decision in her first set but fought back to force a tiebreaker in the second. She got out to a 3-1 lead, but Wiktoria Nosek, one of BSU's freshmen, rallied for a 7-4 win.

Boise State led 5-0 at that point, but that didn't keep Ana Carbo from fighting her way to a straight-set, 6-2, 7-5 win at No. 5. It was Carbo's first win of the spring dual season after dropping her first nine decisions.

"I really wanted to win today. I've been having a hard time to win," said the Spaniard. "I was trying to make more balls, trying to focus on my serves, trying to make more first serves than hitting maybe too hard. It worked well in my serve."

Cam Kincaid picked up Montana's first win this season at No. 5 or 6 against Division I competition when she had a straight-sets win on Saturday against Southern Utah. Carbo made it two wins for the bottom two spots in the singles lineup in two days.

"Going forward this match can help me a lot," said Carbo. "I needed just a little bit of confidence to push hard for the next matches. It will really help me out."

Boise State's Kirsty Venter defeated Milica Panic 6-3, 6-4 at No. 6 for the day's final point.

The loss dropped Montana to 2-12 on the season.

"Steve runs a top-notch program. I really like the way he does things with his team," said Roghaar. "So this match was great for us.

"They've gone through a stretch where they've been coming up short on some matches, but at the same time, I've known his teams for a long time, and they are good players, so it was nice to come out on top. It was a hard-fought match."

Montana will play its final nonconference match of the season on Friday when the Grizzlies play at Wyoming. The road trip closes with a match at Northern Colorado on Sunday.

Montana's next home match will be against Weber State on Saturday, April 8.

Boise State 6, Montana 1
March 12, 2017 at Missoula, Mont.
(Peak Racquet Club)

Singles competition
1. Anja Dokic (BSU) def. Hannah Sulz (UM) 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
2. Lilian Poling (BSU) def. Lidia Dukic (UM) 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-1
3. Nancy Menjivar (BSU) def. Catherine Orfanos (UM) 4-6, 6-0, 6-3
4. Wiktoria Nosek (BSU) def. Nathalie Joanlanne (UM) 6-0, 7-6 (4)
5. Ana Carbo (UM) def. Jovana Kuljanin (BSU) 6-2, 7-5
6. Kirsty Venter (BSU) def. Milica Panic (UM) 6-3, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Catherine Orfanos/Hannah Sulz (UM) def. Anja Dokic/Lilian Poling (BSU) 6-2
2. Jovana Kuljanin/Wiktoria Nosek (BSU) def. Lidia Dukic/Milica Panic (UM) 6-2
3. Nancy Menjivar/Kirsty Venter (BSU) def. Nathalie Joanlanne/Cam Kincaid (UM) 6-4

Match notes:
Boise State: 8-4
Montana: 2-12
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,1,2,3,5,6)