Griz open weekend with win

Friday, March 22

Lewiston, Idaho

5 PM (MT)

Montana

Lewis-Clark State

3/22/2019 9:47:00 PM | Men's Tennis

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By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana men's tennis team added to its win column in a nonconference tune-up match against Lewis-Clark State in Lewiston, Idaho, on Friday evening, picking up a 7-0 win ahead of Saturday's match with the Idaho Vandals.

Despite the lopsided scoreline, Montana (5-8, 2-2 BSC) was made to work for the win, winning two of the three doubles matches and fighting through two, three-set matches and three different tiebreakers in singles sets to come away with the win.

"Today was a battle on court especially in doubles, against a well-coached and aggressive team. Fortunately, all the matches went our way," said head coach Jason Brown. "Alex Canellopoulos and Ed Pudney were especially outstanding in singles today and really set the tone for our match win."

Canellopoulos, the team's lone senior, picked up a straight-sets win on singles court one, pulling through the first set in a tiebreaker to win 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. Pudney was dominant on court four as well, sweeping the first set to win 6-0, 6-1.

Junior Max Korkh picked up his first win of the season on court two, bouncing back from a first-set loss to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Fellow junior Ludvig Hallgren also went three sets after falling in the first, winning in a tiebreaker on court three 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5).

Oisin Shaffrey improved his spring duals record to a team-best 9-4 with a straight-sets win on court five, defeating LCSC's Larry Magalasin 6-0, 7-6 (7-1).

Montana now turns its attention to the Vandals, perennially one of the strongest teams in the Big Sky Conference, and the team that has beat UM in the past two conference tourney title matches.

"Today was great preparation for what will be an incredibly tough test against Idaho tomorrow," said Brown.

The Griz will face the Vandals at the LCSC Tennis Center in Lewiston at 11 a.m. Mountain Time.