Depleted Griz make strides in loss to EWU

Sunday, April 7

Cheney, Wash.

1 PM (MT)

Montana

Eastern Washington

4/7/2019 6:07:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score PDF Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The young Montana women's tennis team continued to show improvement against the best of the Big Sky Conference, despite the team's No. 1 player not being available due to injury.

The Griz closed out a weekend trip west with a competitive 5-2 loss to the second-ranked Eastern Washington Eagles in Cheney on Sunday. The loss drops them to 3-4 in league play (3-15 overall), still holding a shot at advancing to the conference championship.

Montana started slowly with a loss in the doubles point but rebounded with a solid all-around performance in the singles round, with sophomore Bianca Bostrom picking up a win on court two in three sets and senior Lidia Dukic winning on court four, also in three sets.

"I'm so proud of how we came up in singles today. The level of tennis on the first four courts was very high," said head coach Steve Ascher. "EWU was the deeper team today, but I'm proud of how we competed."

Playing just her third match of the season on court two, Bostrom "found a whole different gear today" according to Ascher, grinding out a 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 win over Zoey Nelson.

Also playing up on court four for just the third time this year, Dukic took a three-set win over Louise Waite, improving her conference record to 4-3 with a bounce-back 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory.

The Grizzlies now return home for a pair of crucial Big Sky matches against Weber State (who they beat last year in Ogden) on Saturday, April 13, and Northern Arizona the following day. Both matches will be played indoors at the Peak Racquet Club, with start times set for 9 a.m.

Eastern Washington 5, Montana 2
4/7/2019 at Cheney, Wash. (EWU)

Singles competition
1. LAMOREAUX, Madeline (EWU) def. DUNLAP, Lauren (UM) 6-2, 7-5
2. BOSTROM, Bianca (UM) def. NELSON, Zoey (EWU) 7-6, 2-6, 6-3
3. BRAEDEN, Rylee (EWU) def. JOANLANNE, Nathalie (UM) 7-6, 3-6, 6-3
4. DUKIC, Lidia (UM) def. WAITE, Louise (EWU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
5. WORRALL, Faye (EWU) def. WALKER, Alex (UM) 6-2, 6-3
6. MANSOURI, Yasmin (EWU) def. REGUANT, Claudia (UM) 6-2, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. LAMOREAUX, Madeline/BRAEDEN, Rylee (EWU) def. DUNLAP, Lauren/BOSTROM, Bianca (UM) 6-2
2. NELSON, Zoey/WAITE, Louise (EWU) vs. JOANLANNE, Nathalie/WALKER, Alex (UM) 4-3, unfinished
3. MANSOURI, Yasmin/WORRALL, Faye (EWU) def. DUKIC, Lidia/REGUANT, Claudia (UM) 6-0

Match Notes
Montana 3-15 (3-4 BSC)
Eastern Washington 9-8 (5-1 BSC)
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (1,2,4,3,5,6)