Griz look for continued success at Dar Walters Classic

With two tournaments down and three bracket titles to show for it, the Montana men's tennis team hits the road again this week for its third tourney in as many weeks at the Dar Walters Classic in Boise.

Matches run Friday through Sunday, and with a large field, will be spread around at the Appleton Tennis Center, the Boas Indoor Tennis Center, and Julia Davis Park.

With no ITA Regional tournament on the schedule for the Griz this season, the Dar Walters will serve as their de-facto fall championship, with 12 of the region's top teams slated to appear.

Boise State, Whitman, Denver, Montana State, Portland State, Seattle Gonzaga, Idaho State, Weber State, Utah State, and Air Force are all set to compete in Boise, giving the Griz an early look at four Big Sky teams and two nonconference teams that will be (Air Force and Whitman)

With six of Montana's nine-man squad all true freshman, head coach Jason Brown enters the weekend with his usual high expectations for the team but is also looking for them to even out the highs and the lows.

"I'd like to see a little more consistent effort across the board from our team," said Brown. "I'd love to see somebody break through and get a title, and see the guys who struggled a little bit at Weber get their confidence back, get rolling again, and get ready for the final little push."

Despite the young team, Montana has shown flashes of the brilliance that has led them to the Big Sky tournament title match in back to back seasons.

Junior Max Korkh and freshman Oisin Shaffrey picked up a title each in the A and B draw singles at the Eastern Washington Fall Classic to open the tournament season.

Junior Ludvig Hallgren then won the B singles draw at the Wildcat Invite in Ogden, Utah, last week, and freshmen duo Pontus Hallgren and Jack Yount impressed on their way to the doubles final.

Montana posted some of its best-ever performances at the Dar Walters Classic last fall, with Korkh bouncing back from an early loss to make a run to the final of the consolation bracket.

The Dar Walters Classic will be broken into three singles draws with 32 competitors each, and one doubles bracket.

Following the weekend in Boise, the Griz cap the fall tournament season at Gonzaga's Bulldog Classic in Spokane, Oct. 26-28.

Griz look for continued success at Dar Walters Classic

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Players Mentioned

Ludvig Hallgren

Pontus Hallgren

Max Korkh

Oisin Shaffrey

Jack Yount

University of Montana Athletics