Thursday, March 29
Ogden, Utah
11:30 AM
Montana
3
at
4
Weber State
Griz drop 4-3 thriller at Weber State
3/29/2018 7:48:00 PM | Men's Tennis
The Montana men's tennis team dropped a heartbreaker at Weber State on Thursday in a match where a single tennis point was the difference between a road win and a 4-3 loss to the Wildcats.
The indoor courts at the Ogden Athletic Club are a traditionally tough place for the Griz to play, with UM not tasting victory there since 2012. The loss is Montana's first in Big Sky play so far this season and drops them to 2-1 in league play and 5-4 overall.
It was opposite day for the Griz, as they roared out to a dominant start in the doubles round (something they have struggled to do in recent weeks), but then lost momentum and dropped four of the six singles matches, where UM has been stellar.
"Weber came out and played really well in singles and for the first time this season we couldn't overcome the scoreboard pressure," said interim head coach Jason Brown. "I'm proud of the guys. They battled in every spot. That was a razor-thin college tennis match, but Weber is a good team, and it showed."
Montana was dominant at the top of the doubles order, with Brown shuffling the lineup and coming up with winning pairs in Victor Casadevall and Ignacio Tejerina on court one, and Yannick Schmidl and Max Korkh on court two, with both pairs taking 6-2 easy 6-2 wins to clinch the point.
"Doubles has been pretty poor for us considering the talent we have. So, we made some changes, and the energy was a lot better," added Brown.
The Griz then entered the singles rolling with momentum. That head of steam quickly faded, however, as the Griz dropped the first set in five of the six positions to start the round.
The Wildcats turned a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead in short order, as Alexander Canellopoulos, Tejerina, and Korkh each couldn't recover from slow starts and dropped straight-set decisions on courts three, four, and five.
With three courts left in play, the Griz needed a win on all three if they were to pull out yet another come-from-behind win.
Schmidl, the Big Sky's top overall singles player so far this season, began the comeback on court one, the first time he's played in that position all season.
The senior from Germany moved to 7-1 on the year with a decisive bounce-back victory, defeating WSU's Stefan Cooper (the week one Big Sky Player of the Week) in three sets, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Schmidl's win helped fuel a momentum shift for the Griz, with Casadevall taking Kris Van Wyk (the week two Big Sky Player of the Week) to three sets in a match that had the crowd on the edge of its seats.
The two first team all-conference stars went blow-for-blow, with each scoring points when they needed to keep the hopes of a win for their team alive.
The momentum from Schimidl's court one win wouldn't be enough for Casadevall, however, as Van Wyk ground out a 7-6 win in the third set to clinch the match for Weber.
On court six, Ludvig Hallgren made the final score 4-3 with a three-set win for the Griz, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 over Bo-Han Li.
Had Casadevall's final point gone UM's way, Hallgren's win would have propelled the Griz to a 4-3 win. Instead, they will now have to wait to get another victory at Weber.
Montana now gets a shot to redeem itself on the weekend trip south, traveling to Pocatello, Idaho to face Idaho State on Sunday, April 1, in a pivotal Big Sky showdown. First serves at ISU are scheduled for 1 p.m.
Montana vs Weber State (3/29/18)
Weber State 4, Montana 3
3/29/18 at Ogden, Utah (Ogden Athletic Club)
Singles competition
1. SCHMIDL, Yannick (UM) def. COOPER, Stefan (WSU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
2. VAN WYK, Kris (WSU) def. CASADEVALL, Victor (UM) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6
3. WERNER, Nick (WSU) def. CANELLOPOULOS, Alex (UM) 6-3, 6-3
4. CHEN, Hou-en (WSU) def. TEJERINA, Ignacio (UM) 6-2, 6-4
5. VAN SCHOOR, Michiel (WSU) def. KORKH, Max (UM) 6-4, 6-2
6. HALLGREN, Ludvig (UM) def. LI, Bo-Han (WSU) 5-7, 6-3, 7-6
Doubles competition
1. CASADEVALL, Victor/TEJERINA, Ignacio (UM) def. COOPER, Stefan/VAN WYK, Kris (WSU) 6-2
2. SCHMIDL, Yannick/KORKH, Max (UM) def. WALKUSZ, Cezary/VAN SCHOOR, Michiel (WSU) 6-2
3. WERNER, Nick/CHEN, Hou-en (WSU) vs. CANELLOPOULOS, Alex/HALLGREN, Ludvig (UM) 4-4, unfinished
Match Notes
Montana 5-4, BSC 2-1
Weber State 8-10, BSC 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (3,4,5,1,2,6)
The indoor courts at the Ogden Athletic Club are a traditionally tough place for the Griz to play, with UM not tasting victory there since 2012. The loss is Montana's first in Big Sky play so far this season and drops them to 2-1 in league play and 5-4 overall.
It was opposite day for the Griz, as they roared out to a dominant start in the doubles round (something they have struggled to do in recent weeks), but then lost momentum and dropped four of the six singles matches, where UM has been stellar.
"Weber came out and played really well in singles and for the first time this season we couldn't overcome the scoreboard pressure," said interim head coach Jason Brown. "I'm proud of the guys. They battled in every spot. That was a razor-thin college tennis match, but Weber is a good team, and it showed."
Montana was dominant at the top of the doubles order, with Brown shuffling the lineup and coming up with winning pairs in Victor Casadevall and Ignacio Tejerina on court one, and Yannick Schmidl and Max Korkh on court two, with both pairs taking 6-2 easy 6-2 wins to clinch the point.
"Doubles has been pretty poor for us considering the talent we have. So, we made some changes, and the energy was a lot better," added Brown.
The Griz then entered the singles rolling with momentum. That head of steam quickly faded, however, as the Griz dropped the first set in five of the six positions to start the round.
The Wildcats turned a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead in short order, as Alexander Canellopoulos, Tejerina, and Korkh each couldn't recover from slow starts and dropped straight-set decisions on courts three, four, and five.
With three courts left in play, the Griz needed a win on all three if they were to pull out yet another come-from-behind win.
Schmidl, the Big Sky's top overall singles player so far this season, began the comeback on court one, the first time he's played in that position all season.
The senior from Germany moved to 7-1 on the year with a decisive bounce-back victory, defeating WSU's Stefan Cooper (the week one Big Sky Player of the Week) in three sets, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Schmidl's win helped fuel a momentum shift for the Griz, with Casadevall taking Kris Van Wyk (the week two Big Sky Player of the Week) to three sets in a match that had the crowd on the edge of its seats.
The two first team all-conference stars went blow-for-blow, with each scoring points when they needed to keep the hopes of a win for their team alive.
The momentum from Schimidl's court one win wouldn't be enough for Casadevall, however, as Van Wyk ground out a 7-6 win in the third set to clinch the match for Weber.
On court six, Ludvig Hallgren made the final score 4-3 with a three-set win for the Griz, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 over Bo-Han Li.
Had Casadevall's final point gone UM's way, Hallgren's win would have propelled the Griz to a 4-3 win. Instead, they will now have to wait to get another victory at Weber.
Montana now gets a shot to redeem itself on the weekend trip south, traveling to Pocatello, Idaho to face Idaho State on Sunday, April 1, in a pivotal Big Sky showdown. First serves at ISU are scheduled for 1 p.m.
Montana vs Weber State (3/29/18)
Weber State 4, Montana 3
3/29/18 at Ogden, Utah (Ogden Athletic Club)
Singles competition
1. SCHMIDL, Yannick (UM) def. COOPER, Stefan (WSU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
2. VAN WYK, Kris (WSU) def. CASADEVALL, Victor (UM) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6
3. WERNER, Nick (WSU) def. CANELLOPOULOS, Alex (UM) 6-3, 6-3
4. CHEN, Hou-en (WSU) def. TEJERINA, Ignacio (UM) 6-2, 6-4
5. VAN SCHOOR, Michiel (WSU) def. KORKH, Max (UM) 6-4, 6-2
6. HALLGREN, Ludvig (UM) def. LI, Bo-Han (WSU) 5-7, 6-3, 7-6
Doubles competition
1. CASADEVALL, Victor/TEJERINA, Ignacio (UM) def. COOPER, Stefan/VAN WYK, Kris (WSU) 6-2
2. SCHMIDL, Yannick/KORKH, Max (UM) def. WALKUSZ, Cezary/VAN SCHOOR, Michiel (WSU) 6-2
3. WERNER, Nick/CHEN, Hou-en (WSU) vs. CANELLOPOULOS, Alex/HALLGREN, Ludvig (UM) 4-4, unfinished
Match Notes
Montana 5-4, BSC 2-1
Weber State 8-10, BSC 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (3,4,5,1,2,6)
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1
#1 Singles Match
123
266
COOPER, Stefan / 0 [WSU]
634
#2 Singles Match
123
646
VAN WYK, Kris / 0 [WSU]
467
#3 Singles Match
12
33
WERNER, Nick / 0 [WSU]
66
#4 Singles Match
12
24
CHEN, Hou-en / 0 [WSU]
66
#5 Singles Match
12
42
VAN SCHOOR, Michiel / 0 [WSU]
66
#6 Singles Match
123
567
LI, Bo-Han / 0 [WSU]
736
Order of Finish:
3,4,5,1,2,6
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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