Sunday, January 20
Missoula, Mont.
3 PM
Montana
0
vs
7
Michigan State
Michigan State defends Grizzly charge
1/20/2019 6:55:00 PM | Women's Tennis
The Montana women's tennis team put together a valiant team effort against the Michigan State Spartans on Sunday but came up short 0-7 in their third duel of the weekend.
The Grizzlies were right there to win three out of the four doubles matches and put themselves in a great position to win a singles match before MSU took control.
"There were four matches there that we did everything we had control over to win, and we didn't win, but that happens," said head coach Steve Ascher. "You can't deny the amount of effort and energy they put on the court."
UM pushed the Spartans to the brink in doubles action with sophomores Julia Ronney and Bianca Bostrom leading the way to grab an early 4-1 lead on court one. But Michigan State's Maja Pietrowicz and Emily Metcalf stayed close to the net and rallied to tie the match at 4-4.
Meanwhile, on court two, senior Lidia Dukic and freshman Lauren Dunlap came back from down 2-4 to tie the Spartans 5-5 to keep the Grizzlies' hopes alive. Michigan State stayed strong, however, despite the boisterous crowd's support, to take a 6-5 win.
"Another huge thing about today was the fans. The fans came out and supported, and they got to see some incredible doubles and some unbelievable singles," Ascher said.
Bostrom and Ronney's court presence proved essential to grab a 6-5 lead through the match would not finish after Dukic and Dunlap couldn't keep pace on court two losing the match 5-7. Senior Nathalie Joanlanne and sophomore Eimear Maher lost to the Spartans 2-6 for the first finish of the afternoon.
In singles competition, the Grizzlies ran out of gas with Dunlap and Joanlanne losing in straight sets to their Big Ten opponent to make the overall score 3-0 in favor of the visitors.
Ronney, an all-conference honorable mention as a true freshman, continued to earn her keep with a stellar performance against Michigan State's Lauren Lemonds. After a back and forth first set, the match went into a tiebreaker with Ronney dropping the first set. She would run out of steam in the second set, however, losing the match 6-7 (4-7), 3-6 despite the strong performance.
Bostrom was the only Montana player to force a third set against the Spartans after adjusting her forehand to win the second set 6-4. She couldn't keep the momentum rolling, losing the match 2-6, 6-4, 2-6.
After a couple of encouraging performances against Washington State early in the weekend, the Grizzlies record drops to 0-3 on the year in non-conference play while Michigan State improves to 1-1 after falling to WSU 1-4 earlier in the day on Sunday.
"If we continue on this right track this season is going to be awesome," Ascher said.
Montana will reset this next week before going on the road to Minneapolis for two matches against Minnesota and Colorado on Feb. 2nd and 3rd.
The Grizzlies were right there to win three out of the four doubles matches and put themselves in a great position to win a singles match before MSU took control.
"There were four matches there that we did everything we had control over to win, and we didn't win, but that happens," said head coach Steve Ascher. "You can't deny the amount of effort and energy they put on the court."
UM pushed the Spartans to the brink in doubles action with sophomores Julia Ronney and Bianca Bostrom leading the way to grab an early 4-1 lead on court one. But Michigan State's Maja Pietrowicz and Emily Metcalf stayed close to the net and rallied to tie the match at 4-4.
Meanwhile, on court two, senior Lidia Dukic and freshman Lauren Dunlap came back from down 2-4 to tie the Spartans 5-5 to keep the Grizzlies' hopes alive. Michigan State stayed strong, however, despite the boisterous crowd's support, to take a 6-5 win.
"Another huge thing about today was the fans. The fans came out and supported, and they got to see some incredible doubles and some unbelievable singles," Ascher said.
Bostrom and Ronney's court presence proved essential to grab a 6-5 lead through the match would not finish after Dukic and Dunlap couldn't keep pace on court two losing the match 5-7. Senior Nathalie Joanlanne and sophomore Eimear Maher lost to the Spartans 2-6 for the first finish of the afternoon.
In singles competition, the Grizzlies ran out of gas with Dunlap and Joanlanne losing in straight sets to their Big Ten opponent to make the overall score 3-0 in favor of the visitors.
Ronney, an all-conference honorable mention as a true freshman, continued to earn her keep with a stellar performance against Michigan State's Lauren Lemonds. After a back and forth first set, the match went into a tiebreaker with Ronney dropping the first set. She would run out of steam in the second set, however, losing the match 6-7 (4-7), 3-6 despite the strong performance.
Bostrom was the only Montana player to force a third set against the Spartans after adjusting her forehand to win the second set 6-4. She couldn't keep the momentum rolling, losing the match 2-6, 6-4, 2-6.
After a couple of encouraging performances against Washington State early in the weekend, the Grizzlies record drops to 0-3 on the year in non-conference play while Michigan State improves to 1-1 after falling to WSU 1-4 earlier in the day on Sunday.
"If we continue on this right track this season is going to be awesome," Ascher said.
Montana will reset this next week before going on the road to Minneapolis for two matches against Minnesota and Colorado on Feb. 2nd and 3rd.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2
#1 Singles Match
12
LEMONDS, Lauren / 0 [MICHST]
76
63
#2 Singles Match
12
MEMIJE, Samantha / 0 [MICHST]
66
11
#3 Singles Match
123
METCALF, Emily / 0 [MICHST]
266
642
#4 Singles Match
12
PIETROWICZ, Maja / 0 [MICHST]
66
10
#5 Singles Match
12
STEPHENS, Nicole / 0 [MICHST]
66
03
#6 Singles Match
12
SZABO, Caroline / 0 [MICHST]
66
02
Order of Finish:
2,4,1,3,5,6
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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