Griz sweep singles at EWU Fall Classic

Friday, September 21

Cheney, Wash.

All Day

Montana

Eastern Washington Invite

9/24/2018 9:34:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Complete Results

By: Montana Sports Information

Despite an almost entirely new cast of characters, the Montana men's tennis team picked up right where it left off from last season over the weekend at the Eastern Washington Fall Classic in Cheney, Wash., sweeping the tournament with wins in both singles draws.

Junior Max Korkh won the A-singles flight, and freshman Oisin Shaffrey won the first collegiate tournament of his career in the B-singles flight to lead the Griz to victory over Seattle University, Montana State, and Eastern Washington.

Second-year head coach Jason Brown went into the tournament with "zero expectations" other than that his nine-man team built of six freshmen go out and lay it on the line for their teammates. The Griz did just that.

"Everyone went out and acted like they've done this before even though it was their first college tournament, and went to work," said Brown. "We found a ton of things we need to work on, but that was what we went there to do. It was a great start."

Korkh won the third tournament title of his career at EWU, defeating the Eagle's Mik Blace in three sets, 2-6, 7-5, 3-6.

The junior from Vancouver, B.C. has moved into a leadership role on the team following the graduation of three All-Big Sky seniors, and for him, the weekend's result is proof he's got the ability to thrive in that role.

"It was a big deal for me just because I knew I have big shoes to fill with Victor, Nacho, and Yannick leaving. But it was really reassuring to pick up where we left off and set the standard for all the freshman. It was a good learning experience for them, and it was really nice for me to win," said Korkh.

While 2017 seniors Zach Fisher, Victor Casadevall, Ignacio Tejerina, and Yannick Schmidl may have graduated, two are still roaming the halls at the University of Montana completing their courses of study, and helping set the tone for the young Grizzlies.

For Brown, having all-conference experience like that on the sidelines made a world of difference in UM's first tourney of the fall.

"It was invaluable having Yannick and Victor there. They were fantastic. Great on-court, dialed in, a great voice for these young guys to listen to knowing they are two first-team All-Big Sky Conference guys who just finished. So, it's not this far off thing for them," said Brown.

With the way UM's six freshmen played, it's easy to see the impact the former team leaders had on the next generation.

True freshman Oisin Shaffrey from Dublin, Ireland, picked up the other Grizzly bracket victory in the "B" draw of the tournament, defeating EWU's Martin Bats in straight-sets 7-5, 6-1.

Fellow first-year player Ed Pudney also put his hand up as a rising star with a string of solid performances, including a three-set intrasquad marathon against Korkh in the second round of the "A" draw (6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6)) that could have sent him on to the championship instead of his older teammate.

"Those guys went to war. That was Max's toughest match, so if Ed has a chance to knock Max off, I think he wins the tournament. I really do," says Brown.

Korkh echoed Brown's sentiments about the depth these young Grizzlies showed over the weekend and is already looking ahead to a solid outing in the spring.

"I know all these freshmen are ballers," said Korkh. "They've been taking sets off me in practice, and I've seen the way they compete, so I'm not worried about the spring at all."

The Grizzlies will once again bus-up the entire team over the coming weekend (Sept. 28-30) when UM travels to Ogden, Utah for the Weber State Invite, with Brown looking to build on the sturdy foundations his team developed at EWU.

"There is only so much you can throw so much information at new people, but we'll be expanding on some of the ideas we'll implement on-court," Brown added.