Griz come from behind again to beat Cats

Friday, April 21

Bozeman, Mont.

1:00 PM

Montana

Montana State

4/21/2017 8:02:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Montana Sports Information

It might be time to start referring to the Montana men's tennis team as the "cardiac Griz."

For the second-straight week, the Grizzlies pulled out a team win in the final match of the day, rallying from a 1-0 deficit to defeat the Montana State Bobcats 4-3 in the annual Brawl of the Wild in Bozeman on Friday.

With the win, Montana (12-7, 7-3 BSC) has clinched a spot in the Big Sky Championship Tournament in Phoenix at the end of the month with their fourth-straight conference victory.

"It was a typical Griz/Cat nail biter," said Montana head coach Kris Nord. "Our guys showed really big hearts, and that's what we need to succeed."

Just like last week at Eastern Washington, the Griz fell behind early in the match, dropping the doubles competition to give MSU a 1-0 lead. And just like last week, it was the bottom of Montana's singles lineup that came through in the clutch, winning the final three matches on courts four, five and six to give UM the win.

"We had a shot at the dubs, but let it slip a little bit, then fought from behind the rest of the day. The guys really pulled through again for the third week in a row," said Nord.

With a starting lineup still missing its top player, Victor Casadevall, Montana was also forced to play up for a second straight week.

Last week it was Big Sky Player of the Week Max Korkh's epic win on court four that sealed the deal for UM. This time it was Ignacio Tejerina who came up with the match-wining heroics on court five, coming back to win in a three-set thriller, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.

"Nacho played very well at the end, it was awesome to watch," Nord added. "He started a little shaky - and it's hard to get a rhythm indoors at their place - so he struggled with that in the first set but got it going and played really well to finish the match."

With the final regular season match set for Sunday in Missoula against Weber State, the Griz are primed to enter the Big Sky tournament with a higher-than-expected seed after faltering early in the season against Northern Colorado.

"It's not how you start, it's how you finish. We finished strong, and that's what you want in April," said Nord.

Montana will celebrate senior day for the program's lone senior, Peter Mimnagh-Fleming on Sunday against the Wildcats. The match is set for a 10 a.m. start, and will likely be played indoors at the PEAK Racquet Club. Should the weather forecast change for the better dramatically, the match will be played outdoor at the Lindsay Tennis Center on the UM campus.
2016-17 Montana Men's Tennis
Montana vs Montana State (Apr 21, 2017)

Montana 4, Montana State 3

Apr 21, 2017 at Bozeman, Montana (Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center)

Singles competition
1. BATES, Kellen (MSU) def. MIMNAGH-FLEMING, P. (UM) 6-2, 7-5
2. SITAR, Rok (MSU) def. SCHMIDL, Yannick (UM) 6-3, 6-4
3. CANELLOPOULOS, Alex (UM) def. TORRICO, Adrian (MSU) 6-3, 6-0
4. KORKH, Max (UM) def. FLINK, Alexander (MSU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
5. TEJERINA, Ignacio (UM) def. PARLKLO, Kasper (MSU) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
6. HALLGREN, Ludvig (UM) def. HARVALA, Dylan (MSU) 6-3, 6-2

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

Match Notes
Montana 12-7/7-3 Big Sky
Montana State 6-14/5-5 Big Sky
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,3,2,4,6,5)
T-4:10 A-75