Griz rebound with 7-0 win over Bengals

Sunday, April 1

Pocatello, Idaho

10 AM

Montana

Idaho State

Photo by: Todd Goodrich

4/1/2018 3:55:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana men's tennis team bounced back from a heartbreaking loss at Weber State on Thursday to dominate Idaho State 7-0 in Pocatello on Easter Sunday and improve to 3-1 in Big Sky play (6-4 overall).

From the get-go, Montana was determined not to let another league match slip away, cruising to a 1-0 lead with a win in the doubles round. The Griz then went on to win four of the six singles matches in straight sets en route to a vital conference victory.

"It was a great response across the board from everyone. It takes away a lot of the sting of the Weber match," said interim head coach Jason Brown. "Everyone battled some adversity, but we came away with a great win. I'm super happy with the way we performed."

Montana had little trouble winning the doubles, with Alex Canellopoulos and Ludvig Hallgren picking up an easy 6-2 win on court three, and Max Korkh and Yannick Schmidl cruising on court two, 6-3.

Montana was on track to pick up a huge upset on court one in the doubles round with Victor Casadevall and Ignacio Tejerina blowing out ISU' No. 64 ranked Trhac/Felix pair 4-1 when the point was clinched for the Griz.

Tejerina and Canellopoulos got Montana out to a quick 3-0 lead in the singles round with straight-set wins on courts four and three, each bouncing back after taking losses at Weber.

Schmidl then clinched the match for UM and improved his record to 8-1 this spring - the best overall dual match winning percentage in the Big Sky - with a come-from-behind win on court one over Peter Trhac (6-2, 2-6, 6-1).

Senior Zach Fisher saw his first action of the season on court six, sealing the shutout for UM with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Austin Gwilliam.

The Richland, Washington, native has been limited in his comeback year, missing his entire junior season after suffering an injury as a sophomore, and couldn't have enjoyed his return to action more.

"It felt so good to get back out there. I haven't played a lot since I got injured, so it was a great way to bounce back, especially after the loss to Weber," said Fisher. "I stumbled the first few games, but it felt great. I can't complain."

Brown was a little more complimentary of Fisher, who boosted the energy of the whole team with a dominant performance on his return.

"He played better tennis than I've ever seen out of him, which makes me happy after taking a year off and responding that way. It's really cool," said Brown. "Zach is a great kid, and he's a leader off the court, so it was fun to see him do well."

Montana now prepares to travel south for its final road trip of the regular season next week, heading to altitude in Flagstaff to take on the Big Sky's second-ranked Northern Arizona Lumberjacks on Friday, April 6, before heading to Cedar City to take on Southern Utah the next day on Feb. 7.

The Griz then return to Missoula to cap the regular season with five-straight home matches, starting April 12 against top-ranked Idaho.