Saturday, February 23
Salt Lake City, Utah
5 PM
Montana
3
at
4
Utah
Griz upset bid falls short at Utah
2/23/2019 11:07:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Led by three of the team's six freshmen, the Montana men's tennis team nearly pulled off the upset of the season on Saturday, pushing the Pac-12's Utah Utes to the final match in a 4-3 loss that wasn't decided until the third set.
Trailing 0-3 after dropping the doubles point and a pair of singles matches, Grizzly freshmen Pontus Hallgren, Ed Pudney and Oisin Shaffrey gave UM a shot at the win with three-straight lower-order wins on courts four, five, and six, to tie the match.
After bouncing back for a second-set win, junior Ludvig Hallgren missed the chance to seal the upset for the Griz, falling 7-6, 5-7, 6-0 in the third set to Utah's Slava Shainyan, and the Utes escaped with the 4-3 win on their home court.
"Any time you have a real chance at beating a Pac-12 team on the road is a special effort. I'm proud that the guys fought so hard, but we still have a lot of work and improving to do," said head coach Jason Brown.
"Hopefully we can take the lessons we learned tonight and show them against Marquette tomorrow and get a victory."
The Griz (3-4, 1-0 Big Sky) fell behind early with a pair of losses in the doubles round. The Hallgren brothers fell 1-6 on court two against a Ute pair that featured nationally ranked Dan Little. Utah then clinched the point with a come-from-behind 4-6 win over Pudney and Alex Canellopoulos on court one, while Max Korkh and Shaffrey remained unfinished, tied at five when the point was clinched.
Montana then dropped two-straight singles matches with Canellopoulos and Korkh falling in straight sets on courts one and three, and it appeared the Utes were on their way to an easy victory. But Montana's fab freshmen had other ideas.
Pudney got the Griz on the board with a 6-4, 7-6 win on court four over Utah's Mathias Gavelin. Pontus Hallgren also ground out a 7-6 win in the second set to take a 6-4, 7-6 win on court six.
Shaffrey then picked up his sixth-straight win, bouncing back from a first-set loss to dominate the third set in a 5-7, 7-5, 6-0 win, which tied the match at three.
Meanwhile, on court two, Hallgren's second-set win didn't result in the same third-set momentum, and Montana's upset bid would fall short.
The Griz now face a short turnaround time before returning to action Sunday morning at 11 a.m. against the defending Big East champion Marquette in a neutral site dual at Utah.
Utah 4, Montana 3
Doubles (2,1,4)
Shainyan/Micesvki (UTAH) def. Canellopoulos/Pudney (MONT), 6-4
Hankuliyev/Little (UTAH) def. Hallgren/Hallgren (MONT), 6-1
Gavelin/Benkaim (UTAH) Korkh/Shaffrey (MONT), 5-5, unf.
Singles (1,3,4,6,5,2)
David Micevski (UTAH) def. Alex Canellopoulos (MONT), 6-2, 6-3
Slava Shainyan (UTAH) def. Ludvig Hallgren (MONT), 7-6, 5-7, 6-0
Russell Benkaim (UTAH) def. Max Korkh (MONT), 6-3, 6-4
Ed Pudney (MONT) def. Mathias Gavelin (UTAH), 6-4, 7-6
Oisin Shaffrey (MONT) def. Azat Hankuliyev (UTAH), 5-7, 7-5, 6-0
Pontus Hallgren (MONT) def. Chase Stoner (UTAH), 6-1, 7-6
Trailing 0-3 after dropping the doubles point and a pair of singles matches, Grizzly freshmen Pontus Hallgren, Ed Pudney and Oisin Shaffrey gave UM a shot at the win with three-straight lower-order wins on courts four, five, and six, to tie the match.
After bouncing back for a second-set win, junior Ludvig Hallgren missed the chance to seal the upset for the Griz, falling 7-6, 5-7, 6-0 in the third set to Utah's Slava Shainyan, and the Utes escaped with the 4-3 win on their home court.
"Any time you have a real chance at beating a Pac-12 team on the road is a special effort. I'm proud that the guys fought so hard, but we still have a lot of work and improving to do," said head coach Jason Brown.
"Hopefully we can take the lessons we learned tonight and show them against Marquette tomorrow and get a victory."
The Griz (3-4, 1-0 Big Sky) fell behind early with a pair of losses in the doubles round. The Hallgren brothers fell 1-6 on court two against a Ute pair that featured nationally ranked Dan Little. Utah then clinched the point with a come-from-behind 4-6 win over Pudney and Alex Canellopoulos on court one, while Max Korkh and Shaffrey remained unfinished, tied at five when the point was clinched.
Montana then dropped two-straight singles matches with Canellopoulos and Korkh falling in straight sets on courts one and three, and it appeared the Utes were on their way to an easy victory. But Montana's fab freshmen had other ideas.
Pudney got the Griz on the board with a 6-4, 7-6 win on court four over Utah's Mathias Gavelin. Pontus Hallgren also ground out a 7-6 win in the second set to take a 6-4, 7-6 win on court six.
Shaffrey then picked up his sixth-straight win, bouncing back from a first-set loss to dominate the third set in a 5-7, 7-5, 6-0 win, which tied the match at three.
Meanwhile, on court two, Hallgren's second-set win didn't result in the same third-set momentum, and Montana's upset bid would fall short.
The Griz now face a short turnaround time before returning to action Sunday morning at 11 a.m. against the defending Big East champion Marquette in a neutral site dual at Utah.
Utah 4, Montana 3
Doubles (2,1,4)
Shainyan/Micesvki (UTAH) def. Canellopoulos/Pudney (MONT), 6-4
Hankuliyev/Little (UTAH) def. Hallgren/Hallgren (MONT), 6-1
Gavelin/Benkaim (UTAH) Korkh/Shaffrey (MONT), 5-5, unf.
Singles (1,3,4,6,5,2)
David Micevski (UTAH) def. Alex Canellopoulos (MONT), 6-2, 6-3
Slava Shainyan (UTAH) def. Ludvig Hallgren (MONT), 7-6, 5-7, 6-0
Russell Benkaim (UTAH) def. Max Korkh (MONT), 6-3, 6-4
Ed Pudney (MONT) def. Mathias Gavelin (UTAH), 6-4, 7-6
Oisin Shaffrey (MONT) def. Azat Hankuliyev (UTAH), 5-7, 7-5, 6-0
Pontus Hallgren (MONT) def. Chase Stoner (UTAH), 6-1, 7-6
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1
#1 Singles Match
12
23
MICEVSKI, David / 0 [UU]
66
#2 Singles Match
123
670
SHAINYAN, Slava / 0 [UU]
756
#3 Singles Match
12
34
BENKAIM, Russell / 0 [UU]
66
#4 Singles Match
12
67
GAVELIN, Mathias / 0 [UU]
46
#5 Singles Match
123
576
HANKULIYEV, Azat / 0 [UU]
750
#6 Singles Match
12
67
STONER, Chase / 0 [UU]
16
Order of Finish:
1,3,4,6,5,2
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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