Griz return home with two key Big Sky matchups

As the regular season nears its finish line, the Montana men's tennis team is facing a make-or-break weekend here in Missoula.

The Grizzlies (8-7, 3-3 BSC) currently sit in eighth place in a tight Big Sky Conference. The two teams ahead of Montana also have three losses but outpace UM in wins so far this season. The top six teams qualify for the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Phoenix.

They welcome the teams ranked No. 5, Sacramento State, and No. 6, Idaho State, in the conference entering the weekend, presenting an opportunity to move back into a postseason position for Montana.

The Grizzlies have road matches against Eastern Washington and Montana State and a home match against Weber State remaining on the schedule. Head Coach Kris Nord thinks his team needs three wins in their final five matches for a shot at making the conference tournament.

"I've told the guys we needed to have a real surprise win, which would mean beating a Weber or Idaho, NAU, or Sac State to really increase our chances of going to conference, and I'm sticking with that statement," Nord said.

"Idaho State, Eastern, and MSU we have to win. If we don't go sweep those we are going to have a shorter season than we have had in a while."

In the first match of the weekend 2 p.m. on Friday at the PEAK Health and Wellness Center, the Grizzlies will face off against a red-hot Sacramento State (9-10/6-2 BSC) team. The Hornets have won three straight matches, including a 6-1 win against previously unbeaten Northern Arizona and a 7-0 sweep of Hawai'i.

The Griz, meanwhile, are coming off a tight 4-3 loss on the road to Idaho last weekend.

Nord wants his team to carry over the momentum from a good performance against Idaho to start quick this weekend.

"We have to show up and win the doubles point against Sac. St. and then play as hard as we did last week against Idaho," Nord said. "Our guys played well enough to win last week. It was a tough loss because we were one or two shots away from winning the match."

The Grizzlies are led in singles by their No. 6 player Ignacio Tejerina, who has won his last eight matches. Alex Canellopoulos also enters on a winning streak, coming away victorious in two consecutive matches.

The rest of the Montana roster enters on a losing streak, which makes the doubles point all the more important.

"Well you need that point, and you need the momentum," Nord said. "You don't really want the pressure of going out knowing you need to win four matches of singles."

Sacramento State also has the reigning Big Sky Conference Player of the Week, Kasparas Zemaitelis. Zemaitelis won both of his matches last weekend and has a 7-1 record in conference matches at No. 3.

Montana will throw Peter Mimnagh-Fleming at him in a crucial match. Nord said that Mimnagh-Fleming has defeated Zemaitelis before, but has also lost to him. Mimnagh-Fleming is 3-3 in conference play.

"I like that my senior's got him and Pete's been playing well," Nord said.

After the match against Sacramento State, Montana will welcome Idaho State to the PEAK in a match that will begin at the conclusion of the women's match against Northern Arizona.

The Bengals currently sit in sixth place in the Big Sky, the final postseason position. At 5-3 in conference play, the Bengals are one match ahead of Montana.

Idaho State enters the weekend on a two-match winning streak after beating North Dakota and Portland State at home last weekend. While the Bengals are a perfect 6-0 at home, they have just a 1-2 record on the road in conference play.

Nord thinks it is very important for his team to get some wins at the top of the lineup because of the success that Idaho State's lower ranked players have had.

"It's the best team they've had in a while," Nord said. "I think they are the most improved team in the conference. Their top kid has been playing well, and we're going to need to play well across the board against them."

In the final five matches, Montana plays a team ranked above them in the conference standings, making each match crucial if they want to make the postseason.

"It's really survival time," Nord said. "We need to go out there with some desperation, and we keep saying don't have any regrets after the match, just go out there and pour everything you have into it. If that gets us there, great. If it doesn't, we did everything that we could, and that's what I want them to feel like."

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Players Mentioned

Peter Mimnagh-Fleming

Ignacio Tejerina

University of Montana Athletics