Mimnagh-Fleming leads Griz into final weekend of regular season

Back in April of 2014, the Montana men's tennis team made history by winning the Big Sky Conference tournament for the first time, advancing on to face second-ranked Oklahoma in the NCAA tournament.

Now with a single weekend left in the regular season, the last vestige of that championship squad is preparing to play his final matches as a Grizzly, and like that team of 2014, Peter Mimnagh-Fleming is hoping to go out on top.

"That was the best moment of my tennis life, winning that Big Sky championship with all those seniors who meant so much to this program," said Mimnagh-Fleming. "Almost being done is strange, and it's both happy and sad at the same time. Hopefully, we finish the year strong, and have plenty more matches."

As the only senior on this year's team, Mimnagh-Fleming will lead the Big Sky's fourth-ranked Griz (11-7, 6-3 BSC) into battle this weekend with a trip to the conference tournament on the line.

Montana travels to Bozeman on Friday to face sixth-ranked Montana State (6-13, 5-4 BSC) in the annual "Brawl of the Wild" match before returning home on Sunday to face the eighth-ranked Weber State Wildcats (7-10, 4-4 BSC) in the final match of the regular season.

With only the top six teams advancing to the Big Sky tournament, it's make-or-break time for Montana. In a conference race full of parity, the math works out in the Grizzlies' favor, though. Win one of two and you're in, it's that simple.

"It's Griz/Cat, which is always enormous for us, but the fact we're both fighting or our lives to get to Phoenix makes it that much more important," said Montana head coach Kris Nord.

But with a trip to college tennis' big dance fresh in their memories, Mimnagh-Fleming and Nord are looking to head into the weekend firing on all cylinders, seeking a return to a conference championship.

"We keep teasing Pete that we need to finish how we started," Nord added. "In his first year, we went to the tournament and just dazzled. We went to the NCAAs and got to play Oklahoma. It was an incredibly rewarding experience."

"The tough part is trying to follow that up. We've been close, but haven't done it. We need things fall into place - we need to get there, we need Victor (Casadevall) to get healthy and back in the lineup – and we don't have much time. We have a shot at it, and that's what we ask for, is to have a shot at going to the tournament and winning it."

Over the course of his career, Mimnagh-Fleming has been one of Montana's most consistent performers in Big Sky play, currently sitting at 24-12 in singles play and 19-15 in doubles over the course of his four-year career in the league.

During that time, he's developed his game from being a predominantly groundstroke player on the baseline to adding versatility with backhand chip shots at the net, all the while impressing Nord with his ability to adapt.

"To add shots to your game in college tennis and then go and be able to use them is really remarkable, and he's done that," said Nord.

But the measure of a student athlete's success isn't always measured by wins on the court, even though he has seen plenty of them. As a three-time All-Big Sky Academic Team member, success for Mimnagh-Fleming has also come in the classroom as well.

After graduation, the accounting major will spend the summer back home in the rolling green hills of his native Ireland before returning to the U.S. for a job at PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York City, parlaying that classroom success into a job at one of the world's largest professional services firms.

"I have a real responsible group of guys in the classroom, and he's leading that," said Nord. "I think he's improved on the court and off the court, and that's good to see because athletics is going to make him a more polished business person in anything he does."

But the real world is something that Mimnagh-Fleming isn't thinking about too much these days, not when there is a conference championship on offer in Phoenix at the end of the month.

"The last few weeks have been intense because we didn't know how things would end up, but it's gone perfectly so far. We've given ourselves a great chance to go to the tournament and get a high seed as well," said Mimnagh-Fleming.

As Montana's only senior, Nord says his lone senior has embraced the team leader role as he passes what he learned from that championship team in '14 on to the next generation of Griz greats.

"I see it right now. Pete realizes it's his senior year, and he's leading better, he's emphasizing the right things, to enjoy it, to enjoy the experience. This isn't life and death. It's very important to us, but I hear the message from him to go out to enjoy the experience, and that's huge. That's what's important," said Nord.

And for all the memories a trip to the NCAA tournament brings, Mimnagh-Fleming knows that keeping the big picture in mind will produce results down the line as UM enters the business end of the season.

"I'm trying to keep the team chemistry up. Freshman year, that was the biggest thing for me. The guys fought so hard for each other," reminisced Mimnagh-Fleming.

"I'm just trying to leave that behind because that's the most important thing. You're here for four years of school and tennis, you want to have fun, and you want to enjoy coming to practice every day. My freshman year, I loved coming to practice every day, so I'm trying to leave that with these guys."

Montana faces Montana state at 1 p.m. in Bozeman on Friday and at 10 a.m. in Missoula on Sunday. With rain in the forecast, Sunday's match in Missoula is likely to be played indoors at the PEAK Racquet Club. If the weather changes, the match will be played outside at the Lindsay Tennis Center on the UM campus.

Mimnagh-Fleming leads Griz into final weekend of regular season

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Peter Mimnagh-Fleming

University of Montana Athletics