Antelopes outpace Griz in Phoenix

Monday, March 20

Phoenix, Ariz.

Noon (MT)

Montana

Grand Canyon

3/20/2017 7:07:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Montana Sports Information

In the blazing Arizona sun that pushed temperatures into the 100's on the hardcourt at Grand Canyon University, the Montana men's tennis team dropped the third match of its spring tour to the desert, falling 6-1 to the Antelopes in Phoenix on Monday.

The loss puts UM at 7-6 overall and 0-3 on the spring break trip, with three-straight losses to some of the most difficult teams the Griz will see all season.

"For the most part, we fought hard against a good team today, but we didn't finish very well in a couple of matches, so we've got to be better," said Montana head coach Kris Nord.

After sitting out Saturday's match against UNLV with illness, UM junior Yannick Schmidl made the most of his return against the 'Lopes, pairing with Victor Casadevall in doubles to take a 6-1 win on court three, and putting UM out to a promising start.

Montana's other doubles pairings of Alexander Canellopoulos and Ignacio Tejerina on court two and Max Korkh and Peter Mimnagh-Fleming on court one didn't fare as well, though, falling 6-2 and 6-3 respectively, giving the 'Lopes the crucial doubles point for a 1-0 team lead.

Schmidl followed his doubles win up with another solid performance in singles, defeating Adrian Legarreta in a 4-6, 7-6, 10-3 three-set marathon for UM's only point of the afternoon.

"He's not a hundred percent, but he fought real hard in both singles and doubles. I was impressed with his effort," added Nord.

"After the match, we talked about Yannick being out there, and not being 100 percent, but playing harder than some of our other guys who were 100 percent. We want guys pouring their heart out and leaving nothing on the court, and we had a couple of guys leave some energy out there today. We can't have that."

Casadevall also carried the momentum of a doubles win into the singles round, winning his first set on court one 7-5. But GCU's Francois Musitelli stormed back to take the next two sets 6-0, 10-3, keeping UM's win count at just one point on the day.

The heat of the day caused problems for the remainder of Montana's lineup, with courts two, four, five and six all being decided in straight-sets in Grand Canyon's favor.

In a trip designed as a learning experience to prepare the Griz for a return to Phoenix at the Big Sky championship tournament, Nord says Montana's netters learned valuable lessons that will pay dividends in April.

"It's being able to play a heavy, neutral ball and having to fight your guts out from there, said Nord.

"All three of these good teams we've played, they recover, and they get back to even in a point so quickly by hitting a ball deep and heavy in the court. We're not quite used to seeing that regularly."

The Griz will close out their four-match tour of the Southwest on Tuesday afternoon when they face NAIA Arizona Christian on the courts at Grand Canyon at 3 p.m. Mountain Time.

Grand Canyon University 6, Montana 1
Mar 20, 2017 at Phoenix, Ariz. (GCU Tennis Facility)

Singles competition
1. Francois Musitelli (GCU) def. CASADEVALL, Victor (UM) 5-7, 6-0, 10-3
2. Mathieu Rajaonah (GCU) def. MIMNAGH-FLEMING, P. (UM) 7-5, 6-3
3. SCHMIDL, Yannick (UM) def. Adrian Legarreta (GCU) 4-6, 7-6 (3-0), 10-3
4. Lorenzo Fucile (GCU) def. KORKH, Max (UM) 6-1, 6-1
5. Justin Cvitanovic (GCU) def. CANELLOPOULOS, Alex (UM) 6-3, 6-3
6. Gregoire Balenci (GCU) def. HALLGREN, Ludvig (UM) 6-4, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Adrian Legarreta/Philip Kuehnen (GCU) def. MIMNAGH-FLEMING, P./KORKH, Max (UM) 6-3
2. Mathieu Rajaonah/Lorenzo Fucile (GCU) def. CANELLOPOULOS, Alex/TEJERINA, Ignacio (UM) 6-2
3. CASADEVALL, Victor/SCHMIDL, Yannick (UM) def. Gregoire Balenci/Mathieu Ounanian (GCU) 6-1

Match Notes
Montana 7-6
Grand Canyon University 11-9
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (4,6,5,2,1,3)