Friday, March 1
Portland, Ore.
2 PM (MT)
Montana
3
at
4
Portland State
Vikings bounce back to defeat Griz 4-3 in Portland
3/1/2019 7:49:00 PM | Men's Tennis
The Montana men's tennis team dropped a 3-4 nail biter to the upstart Portland State Vikings on the road in Oregon on Friday, with five of the six singles matches going to a third set in a nearly five-hour marathon.
The loss puts the Griz at 1-1 in Big Sky Conference play, and is their fifth-straight after facing off against some of the top teams in the region (and the defending Big East champions as well), to go to 3-6 on the season.
"Congrats to Portland State. They're a good team," said head coach Jason Brown.
"I felt like we'd get some momentum, then it would go back and forth. It felt like a basketball game where the lead changed 30 times, and it came down to who was going to make the stop or the three-pointer at the buzzer."
Montana had jumped out to an early lead after the doubles round, but Portland State made its comeback in singles, winning matches on courts one, two, and four to tie the match at three each.
As he was at Air Force two weeks prior, freshman Pontus Hallgren was in place to once again play the hero for Montana on court six when he forced a third set with a 6-0 win in the second.
Hallgren had won seven-straight games as the third set started, but the Viking's Sam Roberts spoiled the comeback attempt with a 6-2 win, sealing the home win for PSU.
It appeared Montana would be in cruise control for the match, starting with a win in the doubles round for just the third time this season to give it a 1-0 lead heading to singles.
Oisin Shaffrey and Max Korkh breezed to a 6-2 win on court two, and Alex Canellopoulos and Ed Pudney held on for a 6-4 win to clinch the point for the Griz. The Hallgren brothers were also leading on court three when the round was called, and it looked as though Montana was on its way.
The momentum from doubles didn't transfer over to the singles court for Montana, however.
Portland State tied the match at one with Matteo Fortini - who has played the bulk of his matches on court one this season - sweeping Ludvig Hallgren 6-2, 6-0, to open the singles round.
Korkh put the Griz back on top briefly 2-1 with a win on court three. The junior bounced back from a 2-6 loss in the first set to take a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 win to snap his four-match losing streak and put him at 5-4 on the season. Korkh also handed Viking Tommy Edwards just his third loss of the season, now at 7-3.
Moments later on court one, Canellopoulos was unable to capitalize on a dominant second-set victory to lose 2-6, 6-1, 3-6, tying the overall match at two.
The Vikings then took their first lead of the match with a win on court four when Pudney couldn't hang on from a first set victory, falling 6-4, 2-6, 2-6 – putting PSU ahead 3-2 with two matches still in play.
Shaffrey then tied the match at three by winning the fourth three-set match in his last five matches on court five with a 6-0, 2-6, 7-6 (7-3) tiebreaker win. With the win, Shaffrey improves to 7-2 on the season, the best overall singles record in the Big Sky with a .778 win percentage.
With the match hanging in the balance, Pontus Hallgren made a valiant effort at a comeback after dropping the first set 4-6. At the start of the second, Hallgren rattled off wins in seven straight games to sweep the set 6-0 and take a 1-0 lead in the third.
PSU's Sam Roberts got the breaks he needed, however, coming back to win 4-6, 6-0, 2-6 to seal the win for the Vikings.
Montana remains in the City of Roses on Saturday for a nonconference match against the Portland Pilots, set for a 10 a.m. (MT) start. The Griz then return home for a pair of crucial Big Sky matches against league-leading Northern Arizona and Weber State on March 9 and 10.
Portland State 4, Montana 3
3/1/2019 at Vancouver, Wash. (Vancouver Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. CASTELO BRANCO, L. (PSU) def. CANELLOPOULOS, Alex (UM) 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
2. FORTINI, Matteo (PSU) def. HALLGREN, Ludvig (UM) 6-2, 6-0
3. KORKH, Max (UM) def. EDWARDS, Tommy (PSU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
4. DIMITRIJEVIC, Nikola (PSU) def. PUDNEY, Ed (UM) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
5. SHAFFREY, Oisin (UM) def. WEST, Avery (PSU) 6-0, 2-6, 7-6 (7-3)
6. ROBERTS, Sam (PSU) def. HALLGREN, Pontus (UM) 6-4, 0-6, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. CANELLOPOULOS, Alex/PUDNEY, Ed (UM) def. EDWARDS, Tommy/WEST, Avery (PSU) 6-4
2. KORKH, Max/SHAFFREY, Oisin (UM) def. CASTELO BRANCO, L./FORTINI, Matteo (PSU) 6-2
3. BUKHARI, Majeed/ROBERTS, Sam (PSU) vs. HALLGREN, Ludvig/HALLGREN, Pontus (UM) 4-5, unfinished
Match Notes
Montana 3-6/1-1 BSC
Portland State 7-3/3-1 BSC
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (2,3,1,4,5,6)
T-4:40
The loss puts the Griz at 1-1 in Big Sky Conference play, and is their fifth-straight after facing off against some of the top teams in the region (and the defending Big East champions as well), to go to 3-6 on the season.
"Congrats to Portland State. They're a good team," said head coach Jason Brown.
"I felt like we'd get some momentum, then it would go back and forth. It felt like a basketball game where the lead changed 30 times, and it came down to who was going to make the stop or the three-pointer at the buzzer."
Montana had jumped out to an early lead after the doubles round, but Portland State made its comeback in singles, winning matches on courts one, two, and four to tie the match at three each.
As he was at Air Force two weeks prior, freshman Pontus Hallgren was in place to once again play the hero for Montana on court six when he forced a third set with a 6-0 win in the second.
Hallgren had won seven-straight games as the third set started, but the Viking's Sam Roberts spoiled the comeback attempt with a 6-2 win, sealing the home win for PSU.
It appeared Montana would be in cruise control for the match, starting with a win in the doubles round for just the third time this season to give it a 1-0 lead heading to singles.
Oisin Shaffrey and Max Korkh breezed to a 6-2 win on court two, and Alex Canellopoulos and Ed Pudney held on for a 6-4 win to clinch the point for the Griz. The Hallgren brothers were also leading on court three when the round was called, and it looked as though Montana was on its way.
The momentum from doubles didn't transfer over to the singles court for Montana, however.
Portland State tied the match at one with Matteo Fortini - who has played the bulk of his matches on court one this season - sweeping Ludvig Hallgren 6-2, 6-0, to open the singles round.
Korkh put the Griz back on top briefly 2-1 with a win on court three. The junior bounced back from a 2-6 loss in the first set to take a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 win to snap his four-match losing streak and put him at 5-4 on the season. Korkh also handed Viking Tommy Edwards just his third loss of the season, now at 7-3.
Moments later on court one, Canellopoulos was unable to capitalize on a dominant second-set victory to lose 2-6, 6-1, 3-6, tying the overall match at two.
The Vikings then took their first lead of the match with a win on court four when Pudney couldn't hang on from a first set victory, falling 6-4, 2-6, 2-6 – putting PSU ahead 3-2 with two matches still in play.
Shaffrey then tied the match at three by winning the fourth three-set match in his last five matches on court five with a 6-0, 2-6, 7-6 (7-3) tiebreaker win. With the win, Shaffrey improves to 7-2 on the season, the best overall singles record in the Big Sky with a .778 win percentage.
With the match hanging in the balance, Pontus Hallgren made a valiant effort at a comeback after dropping the first set 4-6. At the start of the second, Hallgren rattled off wins in seven straight games to sweep the set 6-0 and take a 1-0 lead in the third.
PSU's Sam Roberts got the breaks he needed, however, coming back to win 4-6, 6-0, 2-6 to seal the win for the Vikings.
Montana remains in the City of Roses on Saturday for a nonconference match against the Portland Pilots, set for a 10 a.m. (MT) start. The Griz then return home for a pair of crucial Big Sky matches against league-leading Northern Arizona and Weber State on March 9 and 10.
Portland State 4, Montana 3
3/1/2019 at Vancouver, Wash. (Vancouver Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. CASTELO BRANCO, L. (PSU) def. CANELLOPOULOS, Alex (UM) 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
2. FORTINI, Matteo (PSU) def. HALLGREN, Ludvig (UM) 6-2, 6-0
3. KORKH, Max (UM) def. EDWARDS, Tommy (PSU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
4. DIMITRIJEVIC, Nikola (PSU) def. PUDNEY, Ed (UM) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
5. SHAFFREY, Oisin (UM) def. WEST, Avery (PSU) 6-0, 2-6, 7-6 (7-3)
6. ROBERTS, Sam (PSU) def. HALLGREN, Pontus (UM) 6-4, 0-6, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. CANELLOPOULOS, Alex/PUDNEY, Ed (UM) def. EDWARDS, Tommy/WEST, Avery (PSU) 6-4
2. KORKH, Max/SHAFFREY, Oisin (UM) def. CASTELO BRANCO, L./FORTINI, Matteo (PSU) 6-2
3. BUKHARI, Majeed/ROBERTS, Sam (PSU) vs. HALLGREN, Ludvig/HALLGREN, Pontus (UM) 4-5, unfinished
Match Notes
Montana 3-6/1-1 BSC
Portland State 7-3/3-1 BSC
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (2,3,1,4,5,6)
T-4:40
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1
#1 Singles Match
123
263
CASTELO BRANCO, L. / 0 [PSU]
616
#2 Singles Match
12
20
FORTINI, Matteo / 0 [PSU]
66
#3 Singles Match
123
266
EDWARDS, Tommy / 0 [PSU]
623
#4 Singles Match
123
622
DIMITRIJEVIC, Nikola / 0 [PSU]
466
#5 Singles Match
123
627
WEST, Avery / 0 [PSU]
066
#6 Singles Match
123
462
ROBERTS, Sam / 0 [PSU]
606
Order of Finish:
2,3,1,4,5,6
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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