Griz shuffle the deck in nonconference loss to Abilene Christian

Saturday, February 9

Colorado Springs, Colo.

11 AM

Montana

Abilene Christian

Griz shuffle the deck in nonconference loss to Abilene Christian

2/9/2019 7:52:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

With a shuffled lineup intended to get reps for younger players, the Montana men's tennis team dropped match two on its three-match road swing to the Front Range on Saturday, falling to Abilene Christian 2-5 in Colorado Springs.

The loss drops the Griz to 3-2 on the season and 1-1 on the weekend after picking up a win at Northern Colorado on Friday. Meanwhile, the Wildcats improve to 10-3 after picking up a 4-3 win over Air Force on Friday to give them a weekend sweep.

Head coach Jason Brown mixed up his doubles roster and in singles rested his lone senior Alex Canellopoulos and Pontus Hallgren on court six in favor of getting early-season minutes for freshmen Milo Benn and Whitefish native Finn Anderson.

In their first appearance in the top six as Grizzlies, Benn and Anderson acquitted themselves well. Benn picked up the first dual win of his career on court five, defeating ACU's Joaquin Delgado in straight sets (7-5, 6-2) and Anderson forced a third-set super breaker before falling 3-6, 6-3, 9-11 on court six.

Brown says he liked what he saw from the new lineup against an ACU team that boasts the last two Southland Conference Players of the Week.

"Even though we lost I can tell you the future of Griz tennis is bright. I was happy to get our seven and eight guys some action. They both competed really well, and I'm proud of everyone's effort," said Brown. "They are a class team, and they are tough up top."

Like they did at UNC a day prior, the Grizzlies started from behind in the match, with a 0-3 loss in the doubles round. The point could have swung either way, however, with the new partnerships of Canellopoulos and Ed Pudney and Oisin Shaffrey with Max Korkh each falling 6-7 (5-7) in a pair of tiebreakers.

"Even in a loss, I think that was our best doubles of the year," said Brown.

But unlike at UNC, this time Montana couldn't repeat the same magic for a come-from-behind win in the singles round, dropping matches on the top three courts to clinch the match for the Wildcats.

Shaffrey then picked up the first win for Montana on court four when he bounced back from a first set loss to pick up his fourth-straight dual victory 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Benn then claimed Montana's final win of the afternoon for his first collegiate victory.

Montana now turns its attention to the U.S. Air Force for the final of the three-match road trip. First serves from the Academy go up at 11 a.m.