Griz look to rebound against Hawks/Hornets this week

Fresh off the final bye week of the season, the Montana women's tennis team begins a month-long campaign to return to the Big Sky tournament with a pair of home matches against North Dakota and Sacramento State this week in Missoula.

Montana enters the weekend at 5-7 (1-2 BSC) looking to get back in the win column after dropping a pair of matches before the break to the Portland Pilots and Montana State Bobcats.

The Griz will be looking for the home-court advantage this week, as they prepare to set off for six-straight road matches lasting until mid-April following this week's homestand.

With only the top-six teams on the conference table getting a ticket to Phoenix for the Big Sky tournament, this young Griz squad sits in a prime position to move up the ladder from eighth but need to make a move this weekend to be in the hunt for a tourney berth.

"We're looking for that energy, enthusiasm and the ability to get a little better every day," said head coach Steve Ascher. "I think we need to play with a little more abandon than we have been. If we can find that, and play more in the moment, I think we can do really well this week."

The Details
UM's first match of the weekend provides a chance to climb the conference ladder as the Fighting Hawks (3-9, 1-4 BSC) come to town on Friday after a 4-3 win over Portland State that snapped a five-match losing streak.

The Griz cap the weekend Saturday morning against the Hornets (3-8, 2-1 BSC), a program which has dropped six of its last eight matches, but comes to Missoula fresh off a 5-2 win over Cal Poly.

Both matches start at 9 a.m. and will be played at the Peak Racquet Club south of Missoula, just off Blue Mountain road. Admission and parking are free.

A look at the Griz
At the halfway point of the season, the Griz have nearly doubled the number of wins they posted last year with the meat of the Big Sky schedule still to play.

In a rebuilding year, Montana has relied heavily on three freshmen standouts that each enters the weekend with a winning singles record over the course of the '17-'18 season. Julia Ronney, Bianca Bostrom, and Eimear Maher have combined for a 15-13 overall record in dual matches this spring, with Ronney playing seven of her eight matches on court one.

With a young team, the Griz have had some ups and downs, picking up a sweep of Montana State and Seattle in February then dropping the Brawl of the Wild match at home a month later.

Against the Cats and Redhawks in Bozeman, the Griz had the ball bouncing in their direction, going 6-0 in three-set matches. MSU defeated the Griz in Missoula by razor-thin margins as well, with a pair of matches going to tiebreakers.

Over the bye week, the Griz have put a focus on keeping what's important in front of them and enter this week's matches with a renewed sense of purpose.

"It's just that learning process of putting on the blinders and not looking too far ahead," said Ascher.

Montana's veteran leadership has faired well so far this season too, with junior Nathalie Joanlanne putting together six-straight wins, a streak that was snapped by MSU's Linda Vink in three sets. Senior Cam Kincaid has also been steady for UM at 6-6 and was one of the only Griz to pick up a win over MSU two weeks ago.

Scouting North Dakota
The Fighting Hawks come to Missoula for potentially the last meeting between the two schools as conference foes, with UND set to leave the league in 2018.

Veteran coach Tom Wynne, who is in his 27th year at his alma mater, led the Hawks to their first-ever conference tourney berth in 2017, finishing with an 8-16 overall record.

This year's UND team was not favored as well heading into the season, coming in at No. 10 in the preseason poll. They head to Missoula fresh off their first conference win of the year, a 4-3 battle with Portland State, whom the Griz defeated 7-0 in February. The only other common opponent is Seattle, who defeated UND in Seattle 4-3 earlier this season.

Scouting Sac State.
One of the league's traditional powerhouses, Sac State comes to town with a deceptive 3-8 record, dropping four of their last five matches against the likes of San Jose State, Arizona and Saint Mary's.

The only similar opponent to UM the Hornets have faced this season is Northern Arizona, who hung 6-1 wins on both Montana and Sac State at altitude in Flagstaff.

The Hornets came in tied for fourth in the 2018 Big Sky preseason poll and currently sit just one place ahead of UM in the standings in seventh.

Griz look to rebound against Hawks/Hornets this week

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Bianca Bostrom

Nathalie Joanlanne

Cam Kincaid

Eimear Maher

Julia Ronney

University of Montana Athletics