Griz set for ITA Regional in Las Vegas

A week after the Montana men's tennis team posted some best-ever results at the ITA Mountain Regional Tournament, it's now the women's turn to show what they have on the biggest stage in the Rocky Mountains.

The Grizzly women open the ITA regional tourney in Las Vegas on Wednesday at UNLV's Fertitta Tennis Complex, looking to make a little history of their own after some promising results during the fall tournament season.

Montana will join a 20-team field where the doubles and singles champions and finalists qualify for the season-ending Oracle ITA National Fall Championships, Oct. 23-27.

Two weeks ago, the Griz produced a pair of semifinalists at Washington State's Cougar Classic. This week, head coach Steve Ascher is looking to build on that performance in a two-draw format designed to increase the number of matches for all 120 participants, and increase Montana's chances of advancing.

"We want to get after it. We're going down there to put our best foot forward," said Ascher. "The new format will allow everyone to get at least two matches. We want to get as much experience as we can."

The Grizzly contingent of six players will be led by returning first-team All-Big Sky junior Julia Ronney who impressed in Pullman, defeating Gonzaga's Hartuna Tsuruta in come-from-behind fashion (3-6, 6-0, 6-4), and Utah State's Lucy Octave (6-3, 7-6(4)) to advance to the semifinal of the Crimson main draw.

"We're just continuing to try to get her the most quality matches we can. She's responding well, she's excited, and is trying to seize the opportunities," Ascher added.

Based on UTR, Ronney is one of three Grizzlies to earn a place in the main draw of 64, along with UM's standout freshmen duo Olivia Oosterbaan and Maria Goheen. Sophomores Claudia Reguant and Lauren Dunlap join junior Bianca Bostrom in the second singles draw.

The Griz will wrap up the fall tournament season Nov. 8-10 at the San Diego State Invitational in California.

Teams Competing
Air Force
Boise State
Brigham Young
Colorado
Colorado State
Denver
Idaho
Idaho State
Montana
Nevada
New Mexico
Northern Arizona
Northern Colorado
Southern Utah
UNLV
UTEP
Utah
Utah State
Weber State
Wyoming

SCHEDULE OF PLAY

Wednesday, Oct. 23 - First Round doubles (64) followed by First Round singles (2 Flights of 64 each)

Thursday, Oct. 24 - Second Round doubles (32), Consolation doubles, Second Round (32) and Round of 16 singles

Friday, Oct. 25 - Round of 16 and Quarterfinal Round doubles, Quarterfinal singles, Consolation singles & doubles, Added singles matches

Saturday, Oct. 26 - Semifinal doubles, Quarterfinal singles, Semifinal singles, Consolation singles & doubles, Added singles matches

Sunday, Oct. 27 - Doubles Final, Singles Final, Consolation singles, Consolation singles & doubles, added singles matches

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Bianca Bostrom

Lauren Dunlap

Maria Goheen

Olivia Oosterbaan

Claudia Reguant

Julia Ronney

University of Montana Athletics