Griz finish the regular season with three at home

The Montana women's team returns home to cap the regular season this weekend with the final three Big Sky Conference matches of the year, each a must-win if the Griz are to advance to the league championship in Phoenix at the end of the month.

The Grizzlies (7-13, 3-5 BSC) head to the Peak Racquet Club for the first time in nearly a month, mired in a slump after dropping six of their last seven matches, suffering three-straight losses after pulling off the upset at Weber State.

Entering the weekend at No. 8 on the league table, Montana will likely need some help to make it into the top six and earn a trip to the conference tourney in addition to winning out.

With so much to play for in a rebuilding year for his Grizzlies, head coach Steve Ascher is trying to take the pressure off, and just let his team perform the way they did in the upset over the Wildcats.

"I'm hoping they relax, take their minds off everything surrounding them and just go and compete. When they do that, they have the ability to beat anyone. When they overthink things they get tight and end up making mistakes," said Ascher.

The weekend starts on Friday, with one of the most difficult tasks UM will face in conference play as the defending champion Idaho Vandals (9-6, 6-1 BSC) come to Missoula for a key dual starting at 2 p.m.

Idaho is led by Marianna Petrei, a junior from Italy who began the year ranked No. 44 in the nation, and at No. 11 in the mountain region.

It will be a short turnaround when the Griz hit the courts again the following morning, but this time at least the overall record will be in UM's favor as the 5-11 (1-7 BSC) Northern Colorado Bears come to Missoula.

UNC's lone win of the conference season came in mid-March, a 4-3 victory over a struggling Portland State squad that the Griz defeated 7-0.

Montana then caps the regular season on Sunday against Eastern Washington, just as they did in 2017 in Cheney when the Griz picked up their third and final win of the year on their last outing.

The Eagles and Griz look to be on similar tracks ahead of Sunday's match, with EWU coming to town at 7-10 on the year and 4-3 in Big Sky play, with EWU taking a narrow 4-3 win over Idaho State, a team UM narrowly lost to 4-3.

Montana and Eastern Washington will cap a full day of UM tennis on April 15. The Grizzly men are scheduled to play that morning at 10 a.m. at the Peak, while the women will begin shortly after that match concludes at 2 p.m.

University of Montana Athletics

Related News

Next Event

Related Videos