Korkh, Hallgren bounce back to win titles at Gonzaga

Friday, November 8

Spokane, Wash.

All Day

Montana

Bulldog Classic

Korkh, Hallgren bounce back to win titles at Gonzaga

11/11/2019 8:50:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Complete Results

By: Montana Sports Information

Spokane, Wash. - The Montana men's tennis team picked up a pair of consolation bracket wins to highlight the Gonzaga Invitational at the Stevens Tennis Center in Spokane over the weekend and wrap up its fall tournament schedule.

After both being relegated to the consolation rounds with a loss on day one, senior Max Korkh and sophomore Pontus Hallgren each rattled off three-straight singles wins to finish the tournament on a high note.

Montana also picked up a pair of Sunday wins in consolations doubles brackets, but was unable to make any deep runs in the main draws. Despite the strong finish, head coach Jason Brown said the team didn't live up to its own high expectations.

"It wasn't the finish to the fall season I was looking for. We definitely have a lot of work to do," said Brown.

"I was happy to win all our matches on Sunday, but they were in the wrong half of the draws. I think we left a lot of close matches on the table we should have won."

Korkh opened the tournament with a 7-6(4), 6-1 loss to the two-seeded Francisco Bascon from Idaho on day one. He then proceeded to run through three different opponents from Montana State on his way to the Blue draw singles championship, beating Bobcats Nej Sitar 6-4, 7-6(5), Drew Brown 6-0, 6-2, and Joaquin Espinoza 6-4, 6-1 in the final.

In the White singles bracket, freshman Josh Watkins got his first win as a Grizzly with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Seattle's Jim Bauer before falling to Gonzaga's Bryan Husin in the second round 6-4, 6-2.

In the same draw, Hallgren dropped his first match but rebounded to pick up a pair of wins over the rival Cats in his run to the consolation championship. Hallgren started with a clean 6-1, 6-2 win over MSU's Grant Wood, and advanced to the final with a 4-6, 6-2, 1-0(8) over Northern Colorado's Alex Extsed. He then went on to beat MSU's Manuel Monterio 6-3, 6-3, to take the consolation championship.

The Griz now prepare for the championship dual season in the spring, starting with the Utah Utes and Nevada Wolfpack in Salt Lake City on February 1-2.