Orfanos upset bid falls short in 7-0 loss to Aggies

Sunday, March 25

Logan, Utah

10 AM

Montana

Utah State

Orfanos upset bid falls short in 7-0 loss to Aggies

3/25/2018 4:30:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana women's tennis team lost a heartbreaker in the doubles round and made a late charge in the singles, but ultimately dropped a 7-0 decision to the Aggies in Logan to open their spring break tour.

Senior Catherine Orfanos was on the verge of defeating the defending Mountain West Player of the Week Hannah Jones on court five but fell in a third-set tiebreaker to keep the Griz off the scoreboard.

Junior Nathalie Joanlanne was also hunting for an upset on court two, but she too fell in a third-set tiebreaker.

The loss against the Aggies drops the Griz to 6-9 (2-3 BSC) on the season, still holding the goal of finishing in the top six in the Big Sky to earn a berth to the conference championship.

Montana found itself behind the eight ball early in the doubles round with Cam Kincaid and Bianca Bostrom not able to find a rhythm on court one, falling 6-1.

Julia Ronney & Lidia Dukic gave the momentum back to the Griz, however, jumping out to a 4-2 lead on court three. That momentum carried over to court two as well, with Nathalie Joanlanne and Catherine Orfanos coming back to knot their match 4-4.

Both positions remained neck-and-neck from there out with the Griz getting taking a 6-5 lead on both. But Montana's momentum wouldn't be enough, as Utah State came back to take 7-6 wins on courts two and three to clinch the doubles point, dashing UM's hopes for an upset.

"I'm happy with the doubles. We worked on that this week, so I'm proud of the way we came out and competed," said head coach Steve Ascher.

Utah State carried that momentum into the singles round as well, taking straight-set matches at positions one, three, and four to clinch the overall win for the home team.

Joanlanne gave the Griz their earliest shot at a win against Sabrina Demerath, winning the first set 7-5, but dropping the second set and the tiebreaker 3-6, 4-10.

Meanwhile, Orfanos was working on an upset of her own, getting off to a hot start against Jones to win the first set 6-4. Orfanos then made Jones grind out a win in the second, falling 4-6, before running out of gas in the tiebreaker 10-5.

Montana now moves on to face Boise State on Tuesday at the Appleton Tennis Center, with the match scheduled to start at 11 a.m.

Utah State 7, Montana 0

3/25/2018 at Logan, Utah (Sports Academy & Racquet Club)
Singles competition
1. Sasha Pisareva (USU) def. RONNEY, Julia (UM) 6-2, 6-2
2. Sabrina Demerath (USU) def. JOANLANNE, Nathalie (UM) 5-7, 6-3, 10-4
3. Maggie O'Meara (USU) def. BOSTROM, Bianca (UM) 6-2, 6-2
4. Rhoda Tanui (USU) def. DUKIC, Lidia (UM) 6-1, 6-2
5. Hannah Jones (USU) def. ORFANOS, Catherine (UM) 4-6, 6-4, 10-5
6. Sophia Haleas (USU) def. MAHER, Eimear (UM) 6-3, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Sabrina Demerath/Maggie O'Meara (USU) def. KINCAID, Cam/BOSTROM, Bianca (UM) 6-1
2. Sasha Pisareva/Alexandra Taylor (USU) def. JOANLANNE, Nathalie/ORFANOS, Catherine (UM) 7-6 (7-5)
3. Hannah Jones/Jenna Kane (USU) def. RONNEY, Julia/DUKIC, Lidia (UM) 7-6 (7-5)

Match Notes
Montana 6-9, 2-3 Big Sky
Utah State 10-8, 0-0 MW
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,3,4,2,6,5)
T-4:10