Brawl of the Wild highlights weekend slate for women's tennis

The Montana men's and women's basketball teams swept their cross-state rivals a week ago in Missoula, and now the Grizzly women's tennis team is looking to follow suit, hosting Montana State in a Brawl of the Wild dual on Sunday morning.

The Griz will also get the chance to knock off an opponent from the powerful West Coast Conference when the Portland Pilots pay a visit to Missoula on Friday to start a four-match homestand.

Montana (5-5, 1-1 BSC) starts the weekend's duals against Portland (1-6, 0-1 WCC) on Friday at 1 p.m. on the indoor courts at the Peak Racquet Club south of Missoula on Blue Mountain Road.

The annual Brawl of the Wild kicks off a big day for Griz tennis on Sunday morning at 9 a.m., also at the Peak. The Bobcats come to Missoula at 2-4 (1-0 BSC) on the season, having not played a match since February 11. Admission and parking are free.

While it might be enticing to look ahead to the Griz/Cat matchup, the first order of business on UM's plate is the Pilots, whose only win has come over Portland State (6-1), a team Montana also swept in Missoula 7-0.

But UP has also faced some of the nation's top teams this year in the likes of #24 Washington and Alabama, making Friday's matchup a challenge for the Griz.

"We haven't beat a WCC school for a while, so getting to play them at home is cool," said Head Coach Steve Ascher, who himself played at Portland and spent two years coaching there after his graduation. "I'm excited to see (Coach) Susie (Campbell), and it's a good match for us. It's great to have that level of a match here in Missoula."

The Pilots are led by veteran Head Coach Susie Campbell, who is in her 26^th season at Portland with a 235-304-1 record during that span.

Montana then turns its attention to the Bobcats, who they have already defeated once this season. The Griz traveled to Bozeman in early February for a pair of matches against MSU and Seattle, coming home with a weekend sweep that included a big 6-1 win over the Cats.

"We played a good match down there, but that was a month ago. We've had a lot of matches under our belt since then. We're adapting, getting better, and still learning lessons. It will be a tough match" said Ascher. "Griz/Cat is awesome though because it takes center stage for the weekend."

February's 6-1 win over MSU was much closer than the scoreline would appear, with four separate matches coming down to a third set tiebreaker.

Montana had nearly a full complement of players in that match, with Julia Ronney taking a win on court one and Eimear Maher taking her second-straight win of the year after defeating the player from Iowa the week previous. The only player who was injured at the time was Lidia Dukic, who was still recovering from wrist surgery.

Since then, the Griz have battled off sickness, and other little injuries en route to a 5-5 record. This week, however, the Griz expect to be at full strength with the return of Dukic against Ottawa last week in Arizona, giving the squad a healthy top-to-bottom lineup.

Good timing, with Brawl of the Wild points on the line.

"We play a lot of hard teams, and we play them often, so you need fresh bodies in case someone gets hurt or ill," said Ascher. "So, for us, we finally have some depth, and that takes some of the pressure off. It's just nice when everyone is pushing each other and working toward the same goal."

Montana enters the weekend coming off a split with Northern Arizona and Ottawa during a weekend trip south.

The Griz fell to NAU 6-1, with Nathalie Joanlanne the only UM player to pick up a win - a three-set comeback over CoraLynn Von Dungern (7-6, 1-6, 10-6).

Joanlanne, a junior from Dallas, Pennsylvania, has now won five straight, not taking a loss on her record since playing Montana State in Bozeman, when she dropped a three-set marathon to Annie Walker on court three 3-6, 6-7, 5-7.

Dukic, a native of Santa Clara, California, picked up wins in both singles and doubles in her return to action at Ottawa. The junior Academic All-Big Sky performer hadn't played a match since October before returning to action last week.

"Lidia has put in a lot of work in her PT, and it's awesome to see her back," said Ascher.

Montana continues its homestand next week, hosting North Dakota and Sacramento State on March 16 and 17.

Brawl of the Wild highlights weekend slate for women's tennis

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Players Mentioned

Lidia Dukic

Nathalie Joanlanne

Eimear Maher

Julia Ronney

University of Montana Athletics