Griz to celebrate seniors with pair of home matches

The Montana women's tennis team will honor its two seniors in their final home matches in maroon and silver this weekend with a pair of key Big Sky showdowns against Weber State and Northern Arizona.

UM opens the series on Saturday, April 13, against the Wildcats and will cap the weekend on senior day against the Lumberjacks on April 14. Both matches will be played on the indoor courts at the Peak Racquet Club, and both are scheduled to start at 9 a.m.

At 3-4 in conference play (3-15 overall), the Griz currently sit in seventh in the standings, knocking the door to a coveted top-six finish that would earn them their first trip to the Big Sky championship in Phoenix since 2015.

Bumping up into the top six is not going to be an easy task, however.

Even if the Griz were to pick up a pair of wins this week, their four losses could spell disaster with all six teams ahead of them currently sitting at two losses or fewer. With only one match at Montana State remaining on the schedule, the Griz are looking like they will need help to advance.

Seniors Lidia Dukic and Nathalie Joanlanne will play their last college matches inside the Peak. It's a day they've known was coming, and now that it's snuck up on them, they have the chance to go out with a bang and collect big wins over Weber State (12-7, 5-2 BSC) and NAU (9-8, 5-1 BSC).

"It's kind of crazy. I think all season Lidia and I have been thinking about how it's a season of lasts, and it's finally here. Our last two matches at the peak. We're excited because they're pretty important matches and we really have to put our best foot forward," said Joanlanne.

"We've done all the work we needed to in the gym and everything, it just comes down to grit and fighting this weekend. Everyone has had really close matches with good players, and we just need to take that extra step."

Dukic enters the weekend as one of the team's hottest players, earning UM's nomination for Big Sky Player of the Week on Monday after a pair of wins over Idaho and Eastern Washington, and winner in three of her last four matches at 6-11 on the season.

With her sister in town from California to visit for senior day, she says her and Joanlanne both just need to forget about the nerves and "play loose" to help the team to victory.

"Right now, I'm just focused on keeping the momentum I've had in my last matches. It's a different feeling. It's just learning how to be in the moment and not being nervous, but I'm enjoying being confident and going out there and playing the game I love," said Dukic.

Last Meetings: While NAU and Weber have been two of the strongest teams in the league in recent years, Montana saw some success the last time they faced the Lumberjacks and Wildcats.

In 2018 the Griz traveled to the high-altitude courts in Flagstaff for a February match against NAU. While UM was competitive on all six singles courts, it was Joanlanne who picked up the Grizzlies' only win of the day, defeating NAU's Cora-Lynn Von Dungern on court three 7-6, 1-6, 1-0 (10-6).

The 'Jacks now visit Missoula with a host of players who have won Big Sky Player of the Week honors this season, including Chiara Tomasetti, who sits at 16-0 on the year.

Later in the season UM traveled to Ogden to face the Wildcats on a spring break trip south and came away with the team's biggest win of the season, taking the doubles point and winning singles one, two and six for a 4-3 team victory.

Julia Ronney rolled to a 6-1, 6-1 win on court one over Caitlin Herb, and Joanlanne picked up a singles win on two (6-4, 6-4) on top of a doubles win with former Griz Catherine Orfanos to lead the Griz to victory.

WSU's Megan Lombardi also comes to Missoula this season with a sterling 16-2 record, the second-best win percentage in the league next to Tomasetti.

Ronney has missed the previous two matches with an ankle injury, but the Griz have stepped up in her absence on the No. 1 court.

Sophomore Bianca Bostrom played what head coach Steve Ascher believed to be her best tennis at Eastern Washington, picking up a three-set win on court two.

Montana closes the regular season with the Brawl of the Wild match against Montana State in Bozeman on April 20.

Griz to celebrate seniors with pair of home matches

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Players Mentioned

Bianca Bostrom

Lidia Dukic

Nathalie Joanlanne

Catherine Orfanos

Julia Ronney

University of Montana Athletics