Griz set to face #46 Tulsa

A week ago, the winless Montana women's tennis team languished at the bottom of the Big Sky standings, understandably so in the midst of the most difficult nonconference schedule in program history.

What a difference a day makes.

The Grizzlies got the breakthrough they were looking for late last week, opening Big Sky play with a 5-2 win over Portland State in Oregon on Sunday, and now sit in third on the league table at 1-0. That was the point all along - rise to the top of the conference standings after testing themselves against the best in the west.

With momentum on their side, the Griz now head to Bozeman for their most difficult test of the season in a nonconference match with the No. 46-ranked Tulsa Golden Hurricane on the neutral courts at MSU.

Montana and Tulsa will do battle for the first time in program history on Saturday, Feb. 23, starting at 10 a.m. at the Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center.

"I'm excited for the challenge, but it's just another match. You have to treat them all as quality matches and put the expectation and focus on finding out how we can improve as players," said head coach Steve Ascher.

"I love that our schedule is raising expectations for ourselves. Now we have a once in a lifetime opportunity, so let's go do it."

And a challenge it will be.

The Golden Hurricane started the season ranked as high as No. 17 in the nation after advancing to the Sweet 16 at the NCAA tourney for the first time in school history last season as winners of the American Athletic Conference championship.

In doubles, Tulsa is led by the No. 7 nationally ranked pair of Martina Okalova and Vera Ploner. In singles Martha Matoula will test UM as the No. 87 ranked player in the nation.

Montana enters the match led by freshman Lauren Dunlap, who escaped last week's gauntlet in Oregon with a 2-0 record, picking up wins over Portland and Portland State, with matches against San Diego and Oregon still in progress when play was called.

Dunlap has been making improvements during her first season at Montana on the No. 2 court, taking at least one game from her opponent in 17 of the 18 sets she has played in maroon and silver.

Senior Lidia Dukic picked up her second win of the season against Portland State, improving her singles record to 2-6 after defeating Colorado's Tallulah Farrow on Feb. 3.

As a mainstay on court one and the only Grizzly tasked with facing four nationally ranked players, sophomore Julia Ronney is the only other player to log two wins so far this season. Ronney defeated Portland State's No. 1 player and Colorado's No. 1 as well to put her at 2-7 this season.

Even more impressive was that the All-Big Sky honorable mention from 2018 picked up her straight-sets win over PSU while battling the flu.

UP NEXT: Following this week's one-off match with Tulsa, the Grizzlies return to conference play, hosting Idaho State in Missoula on March 8 at the PEAK Racquet Club.

UM heads to the front range the following week for a league match against Northern Colorado, followed by nonconference bouts with Wyoming and Colorado State.

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Players Mentioned

Lidia Dukic

Lauren Dunlap

Julia Ronney

University of Montana Athletics