Griz advance at Big Sky tourney with 4-0 win over Bengals

Thursday, April 27

Phoenix, Ariz.

12:30 PM (MT)

Montana

Idaho State

Griz advance at Big Sky tourney with 4-0 win over Bengals

4/27/2017 5:53:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Montana Sports Information

An old adage in college tennis says that a win at the bottom of the lineup counts just as much as a win at the top.

Once again, the bottom of the Montana men's tennis lineup came through when it matters most at the Big Sky Championship quarterfinal, with Max Korkh and Ignacio Tejerina picking up key singles wins on courts five and six to lead the Griz to a 4-0 win over Idaho State.

With the win, Montana (13-8, 7-4 BSC) advances to the semifinal round on Friday to take on the No. 1 seed Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (15-7, 10-1 BSC), beginning at 10:00 a.m. (MT) at the Phoenix Tennis Center.

The win over the Bengals was the first tournament victory for the Griz since 2014 when UM won the championship and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history.

"It was a lot like our indoor match against them (ISU). We were a couple of points away from going to a third set at the end, and Pete pulled it off. It was awesome," said Montana head coach Kris Nord.

UM's lone senior Peter Mimnagh-Fleming clinched the win for UM in a second set tiebreaker on court three, defeating ISU's Josh Goodwin for the second time this season, 6-1, 7-6 (8-0).

(4/27/2017) MTEN: vs. ISU 4.27.17 - Big Sky QF

Victor Casadevall made his return to action after suffering an ankle injury against Idaho State earlier in the month, helping Montana secure the doubles round with a 6-1 win on court three with his partner Ludvig Hallgren.

The Griz clinched the doubles point on court two when Alexander Canellopoulos and Yannick Schmidl picked up their 20th overall win of the season, defeating ISU's Wacquez/Filipovich pair 6-2, and putting the Griz up 1-0 early on.

Casadevall then moved back into the No. 1 singles spot, allowing the Griz to return to their usual lineup positions. But the Spaniard wouldn't stay 100 percent for long, however, suffering a shoulder injury early in the match that forced a medical timeout.

"He was a trooper. He took a physical timeout then went back out, played hard and was still in the match. He lost the first set, but was hanging in there when we clinched," said Nord.

"He worked his butt off in rehab, and to get back and to keep everybody else in their position was the reason we won this match."

Like they did against ISU in April, Casadevall's teammates rallied around him, with Korkh and Tejerina taking straight-set wins on courts five and six to put UM up 3-0.

"I was real proud of Max and Nacho. It was hot and windy, and the guys handled the pressure very well," Nord added.

The outcome of the match was still in question with Schmidl and Canellopoulos each going to a third set on courts two and four. But before those matches could finish, Mimnagh-Fleming sealed the win for the Griz on court three, putting UM up for good 4-0.

Montana now advances to face Northern Arizona in the semifinal. The start time of that match was originally scheduled for 11:00 a.m. (MT), but has been moved up an hour to 10:00 a.m. due to high wind concerns in the Phoenix area.

"We have to go play better tomorrow. To get to Phoenix and get past the first round - now it's anyone's ballgame. I just hope we rest and recover and get ready to roll in the morning, and I think these guys will do that.

Tennis Match Results
Idaho State vs Montana
Apr 27, 2017 at Phoenix, Ariz.
(Phoenix Tennis Center)

Montana 4, Idaho State 0

Singles competition
1. CASADEVALL, Victor (UM) vs. Sebastian Edin (ISU) 2-6, 3-5, unfinished
2. SCHMIDL, Yannick (UM) vs. Quentin Wacquez (ISU) 6-7 (0-3), 0-0, unfinished
3. MIMNAGH-FLEMING, P. (UM) def. Josh Goodwin (ISU) 6-1, 7-6 (8-0)
4. CANELLOPOULOS, Alex (UM) vs. Francis Filipovich (ISU) 3-6, 6-2, 1-0, unfinished
5. KORKH, Max (UM) def. Bjorn Scheepbouwer (ISU) 7-6 (7-0), 6-0
6. TEJERINA, Ignacio (UM) def. Keegan Sullivan (ISU) 7-5, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. MIMNAGH-FLEMING, P./KORKH, Max (UM) vs. Sebastian Edin/Bjorn Scheepbouwer (ISU) 4-4, unfinished
2. SCHMIDL, Yannick/CANELLOPOULOS, Alex (UM) def. Quentin Wacquez/Francis Filipovich (ISU) 6-2
3. CASADEVALL, Victor/HALLGREN, Ludvig (UM) def. Josh Goodwin/Keegan Sullivan (ISU) 6-1

Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (6,5,3)