Sunday, February 17
Portland, Ore.
11 AM (MT)
Montana
5
at
2
Portland State
Griz shake monkey off back with a win at PSU
2/17/2019 4:15:00 PM | Women's Tennis
When the Montana women's tennis team embarked on the most difficult nonconference schedule in program history, there was only one goal in the method to head coach Steve Ascher's madness: test his team early so the wins come when the Big Sky season rolls around.
Since January, UM has faced nationally ranked players from Washington State, Oregon, and San Diego (among others), surrounding the young team with some of the best in the country.
That strategy started to pay off Sunday when the Grizzlies (1-8) made it 1-for-1 in league play with a 5-2 win over Portland State (0-2) to open the conference season.
"Our experience really helped today. There were different adjustments we had to make, and our experience was evident," said Ascher.
"We're just scratching the surface. There is still a lot of room to grow, but today we were dialed into the moment, and it feels good. It validates what we've been working on. We have to honor that, then move to the next piece."
Montana started the match at the Vancouver Tennis Center with an early 1-0 lead by taking a win in the doubles round.
The UM sophomore pair of Julia Ronney and Bianca Bostrom picked up their second win of the season together with a comfortable 6-1 victory over PSU's Nikitovic/Rees pair on court one. The Griz clinched the point on court two with a 6-4 win for Lauren Dunlap and Lidia Dukic.
Portland State bounced back in the singles round with a win over Griz senior Nathalie Joanlanne on court four (2-6, 1-6) to tie the match 1-1.
The overall score wouldn't remain tied for long, however, as Bostrom finished her match against Alli Valk shortly after on court three with a 6-4, 6-3, win, avenging a loss to Valk last year in tournament play.
Dunlap extended the Griz lead on court two with a straight-sets win over Nina Nikitovic (6-4, 6-3) to claim her second-straight win and make it a 3-1 match.
Battling the flu, sophomore Julia Ronney then clinched the match for the Griz on court one with a grueling 7-5, 6-4 victory over PSU's Lotti Meszaros to give Montana a 4-1 lead and the overall win.
Montana and Portland State split the remaining two matches, with Dukic getting a 6-0, 7-5 straight-sets win over Taylor Rees on court five for her second win of the season, and Claudia Reguant falling 5-7, 2-6 on court six.
Montana returns to its challenging nonconference schedule next week with a neutral court dual in Bozeman against Tulsa, who started the year as one of the top-ranked teams in the country on Feb. 23.
The Griz will then return home on March 8 for an important Big Sky dual against Idaho State, which was picked to finish two places ahead of UM in the league's preseason poll.
Since January, UM has faced nationally ranked players from Washington State, Oregon, and San Diego (among others), surrounding the young team with some of the best in the country.
That strategy started to pay off Sunday when the Grizzlies (1-8) made it 1-for-1 in league play with a 5-2 win over Portland State (0-2) to open the conference season.
"Our experience really helped today. There were different adjustments we had to make, and our experience was evident," said Ascher.
"We're just scratching the surface. There is still a lot of room to grow, but today we were dialed into the moment, and it feels good. It validates what we've been working on. We have to honor that, then move to the next piece."
Montana started the match at the Vancouver Tennis Center with an early 1-0 lead by taking a win in the doubles round.
The UM sophomore pair of Julia Ronney and Bianca Bostrom picked up their second win of the season together with a comfortable 6-1 victory over PSU's Nikitovic/Rees pair on court one. The Griz clinched the point on court two with a 6-4 win for Lauren Dunlap and Lidia Dukic.
Portland State bounced back in the singles round with a win over Griz senior Nathalie Joanlanne on court four (2-6, 1-6) to tie the match 1-1.
The overall score wouldn't remain tied for long, however, as Bostrom finished her match against Alli Valk shortly after on court three with a 6-4, 6-3, win, avenging a loss to Valk last year in tournament play.
Dunlap extended the Griz lead on court two with a straight-sets win over Nina Nikitovic (6-4, 6-3) to claim her second-straight win and make it a 3-1 match.
Battling the flu, sophomore Julia Ronney then clinched the match for the Griz on court one with a grueling 7-5, 6-4 victory over PSU's Lotti Meszaros to give Montana a 4-1 lead and the overall win.
Montana and Portland State split the remaining two matches, with Dukic getting a 6-0, 7-5 straight-sets win over Taylor Rees on court five for her second win of the season, and Claudia Reguant falling 5-7, 2-6 on court six.
Montana returns to its challenging nonconference schedule next week with a neutral court dual in Bozeman against Tulsa, who started the year as one of the top-ranked teams in the country on Feb. 23.
The Griz will then return home on March 8 for an important Big Sky dual against Idaho State, which was picked to finish two places ahead of UM in the league's preseason poll.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,2
#1 Singles Match
12
76
MESZAROS, Lotti / 0 [PSU]
54
#2 Singles Match
12
66
NIKITOVIC, Nina / 0 [PSU]
43
#3 Singles Match
12
66
VALK, Alli / 0 [PSU]
43
#4 Singles Match
12
21
ZADOR, Eszter / 0 [PSU]
66
#5 Singles Match
12
67
REES, Taylor / 0 [PSU]
05
#6 Singles Match
12
52
UPENIECE, Gerda / 0 [PSU]
76
Order of Finish:
4,3,2,1,5,6
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
Griz Soccer vs. Nevada Postgame Report - 8/31/25
Friday, September 12
Griz Soccer Weekly Press Conference - 9/8/25
Friday, September 12
Griz Volleyball Weekly Press Conference - 9/8/25
Tuesday, September 09
Griz Football vs. Central Washington Highlights - 9/6/25
Tuesday, September 09
