Friday, March 16
Missoula, Mont.
9 AM
Montana
6
vs
1
North Dakota
Women’s tennis takes win over UND
3/16/2018 4:02:00 PM | Women's Tennis
The Montana women's tennis team held off a game North Dakota squad on Friday morning in Missoula, gritting out a win in the doubles point and carrying the momentum through the singles round for a 6-1 victory.
At the halfway point of the schedule, Montana moves to 6-7 on the year, doubling the number of victories they had in the entire 2016-17 season. The win also puts UM at .500 in Big Sky play at 2-2 as the Griz work toward their goal of a top-six finish and a trip to the conference championship tournament.
Though a 6-1 win may look lopsided on paper, the Griz had to scrap with the Fighting Hawks to pick up the win at the Peak Racquet Club, and after two losses at home last week, coach Steve Asher says it was a good gut check for his team.
"Something we talk about daily is mental fortitude, and when a match is on the line, let's step up and make plays," Ascher said.
After picking up its first conference win of the year last week against Portland State, North Dakota was doing everything in its power to come away from Missoula with a league road win, but the Griz were up to the challenge.
"I think we did really well today," said senior Cam Kincaid. "We did a good job of adapting to their game style. They hit a bunch of funky shots, but we trusted our strokes and allowed ourselves to play and not be phased by it."
Montana opened the match with a gritty win in the doubles round.
Kincaid and Bianca Bostrom got the Griz up early on court one, breezing to a 6-2 win over UND's Palumbo/Hartnett pair.
The Fighting Hawks made the Griz work for the point on courts two and three, however, with Montana running out to early leads on both, but unable to finish. UND eventually took the lead on court three when Catherine Orfanos and Eimear Maher fell behind 6-5.
But the point was decided on court two, with Julia Ronney and Nathalie Joanlanne pulling away with the final two games of the set to win 7-5, sealing the doubles round for the Griz.
"It was nice to see that energy in the doubles. We've been talking about that, and it was cool to see them really get after it," said Ascher.
In the singles round, Montana jumped out to an early lead with first-set wins on courts one, two and three.
Ronney pushed through an early bout of frustration on court one to take the first set 7-5 in come-from-behind fashion. Kincaid was dominant in her first set with a 6-1 win, and Joanlanne also bounced back from an early deficit to win her first set 6-4.
Kincaid dominated once again in the second set to take the first singles win of the day 6-2, 6-4 on court two, while Ronney also cruised on court one for a 7-5, 6-3 win.
Joanlanne, however, dropped a second set in which it seemed nothing was going right for the junior, only to rebound in the third set for a convincing 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 win that clinched the overall victory for the Griz.
"I thought Nathalie came through some really good mental pieces to come back and win a pretty easy third set, which means we're growing as a group."
Montana finished the day with Bostrom picking up a straight-sets win over UND's Zahra Finnigan (6-4, 6-4), and Maher battling her way to a win in a third-set tiebreaker (7-5, 3-6, 10-7).
The Griz now turn their attention to perennial powerhouse Sacramento State, who comes to Missoula for a Saturday morning showdown with the Griz on the heels of a 7-0 road loss to Idaho on Thursday. Serves for the UM/Sac State match go up at 9 a.m. at the Peak.
2017-18 Montana Women's Tennis
North Dakota vs Montana (Mar 16, 2018)
Montana 6, North Dakota 1
Mar 16, 2018 at Missoula, Mont. (Peak Racquet Club)
Singles competition
1. RONNEY, Julia (UM) def. Palumbo, Carmen (UND) 7-5, 6-3
2. KINCAID, Cam (UM) def. Hartnett, Elly (UND) 6-2, 6-4
3. JOANLANNE, Nathalie (UM) def. Sullivan, Isa (UND) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
4. Kasilingam, Preethi (UND) def. ORFANOS, Catherine (UM) 6-1, 6-4
5. BOSTROM, Bianca (UM) def. Finnigan, Zahra (UND) 6-4, 6-4
6. MAHER, Eimear (UM) def. Yasunaga, Jaylee (UND) 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (10-7)
Doubles competition
1. KINCAID, Cam/BOSTROM, Bianca (UM) def. Palumbo, Carmen/Hartnett, Elly (UND) 6-2
2. RONNEY, Julia/JOANLANNE, Nathalie (UM) def. Sullivan, Isa/Kasilingam, Preethi (UND) 7-5
3. ORFANOS, Catherine/MAHER, Eimear (UM) vs. Finnigan, Zahra/Lobanova, Masha (UND) 5-6, unfinished
Match Notes
North Dakota 3-10 (1-5 BSC)
Montana 6-7 (2-2 BSC)
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (2,1,4,3,5,6)
Official: Schwartz, Delman T-4:10 A-13
At the halfway point of the schedule, Montana moves to 6-7 on the year, doubling the number of victories they had in the entire 2016-17 season. The win also puts UM at .500 in Big Sky play at 2-2 as the Griz work toward their goal of a top-six finish and a trip to the conference championship tournament.
Though a 6-1 win may look lopsided on paper, the Griz had to scrap with the Fighting Hawks to pick up the win at the Peak Racquet Club, and after two losses at home last week, coach Steve Asher says it was a good gut check for his team.
"Something we talk about daily is mental fortitude, and when a match is on the line, let's step up and make plays," Ascher said.
Say it with us now...
— Montana Griz Tennis (@MontanaGrizTEN) March 16, 2018
MONTANA!...
GRIZZLIES!...
?????? #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/v37sgkvDoG
After picking up its first conference win of the year last week against Portland State, North Dakota was doing everything in its power to come away from Missoula with a league road win, but the Griz were up to the challenge.
"I think we did really well today," said senior Cam Kincaid. "We did a good job of adapting to their game style. They hit a bunch of funky shots, but we trusted our strokes and allowed ourselves to play and not be phased by it."
Montana opened the match with a gritty win in the doubles round.
Kincaid and Bianca Bostrom got the Griz up early on court one, breezing to a 6-2 win over UND's Palumbo/Hartnett pair.
The Fighting Hawks made the Griz work for the point on courts two and three, however, with Montana running out to early leads on both, but unable to finish. UND eventually took the lead on court three when Catherine Orfanos and Eimear Maher fell behind 6-5.
But the point was decided on court two, with Julia Ronney and Nathalie Joanlanne pulling away with the final two games of the set to win 7-5, sealing the doubles round for the Griz.
"It was nice to see that energy in the doubles. We've been talking about that, and it was cool to see them really get after it," said Ascher.
In the singles round, Montana jumped out to an early lead with first-set wins on courts one, two and three.
Ronney pushed through an early bout of frustration on court one to take the first set 7-5 in come-from-behind fashion. Kincaid was dominant in her first set with a 6-1 win, and Joanlanne also bounced back from an early deficit to win her first set 6-4.
Kincaid dominated once again in the second set to take the first singles win of the day 6-2, 6-4 on court two, while Ronney also cruised on court one for a 7-5, 6-3 win.
Joanlanne, however, dropped a second set in which it seemed nothing was going right for the junior, only to rebound in the third set for a convincing 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 win that clinched the overall victory for the Griz.
"I thought Nathalie came through some really good mental pieces to come back and win a pretty easy third set, which means we're growing as a group."
Montana finished the day with Bostrom picking up a straight-sets win over UND's Zahra Finnigan (6-4, 6-4), and Maher battling her way to a win in a third-set tiebreaker (7-5, 3-6, 10-7).
The Griz now turn their attention to perennial powerhouse Sacramento State, who comes to Missoula for a Saturday morning showdown with the Griz on the heels of a 7-0 road loss to Idaho on Thursday. Serves for the UM/Sac State match go up at 9 a.m. at the Peak.
2017-18 Montana Women's Tennis
North Dakota vs Montana (Mar 16, 2018)
Montana 6, North Dakota 1
Mar 16, 2018 at Missoula, Mont. (Peak Racquet Club)
Singles competition
1. RONNEY, Julia (UM) def. Palumbo, Carmen (UND) 7-5, 6-3
2. KINCAID, Cam (UM) def. Hartnett, Elly (UND) 6-2, 6-4
3. JOANLANNE, Nathalie (UM) def. Sullivan, Isa (UND) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
4. Kasilingam, Preethi (UND) def. ORFANOS, Catherine (UM) 6-1, 6-4
5. BOSTROM, Bianca (UM) def. Finnigan, Zahra (UND) 6-4, 6-4
6. MAHER, Eimear (UM) def. Yasunaga, Jaylee (UND) 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (10-7)
Doubles competition
1. KINCAID, Cam/BOSTROM, Bianca (UM) def. Palumbo, Carmen/Hartnett, Elly (UND) 6-2
2. RONNEY, Julia/JOANLANNE, Nathalie (UM) def. Sullivan, Isa/Kasilingam, Preethi (UND) 7-5
3. ORFANOS, Catherine/MAHER, Eimear (UM) vs. Finnigan, Zahra/Lobanova, Masha (UND) 5-6, unfinished
Match Notes
North Dakota 3-10 (1-5 BSC)
Montana 6-7 (2-2 BSC)
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (2,1,4,3,5,6)
Official: Schwartz, Delman T-4:10 A-13
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
Griz Football Weekly Press Conference 12-15-25
Tuesday, December 16
UM vs USD Highlights
Sunday, December 14
UM vs USD Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, December 14
Griz football weekly press conference 12.8.25
Monday, December 08
