Ronney first-team All-Big Sky in singles, repeats with Bostrom in doubles

Through ups and downs, injury and illness, Julia Ronney remained the constant on court one for the Montana women's tennis team in 2019, putting together the third-best singles winning percentage in the Big Sky at 7-1 (.875) in league play.

In her sophomore season, the San Diego native powered through a tough schedule to emerge as one of the league's top players, and coaches around the conference took notice.

Ronney was named first-team All-Big Sky in singles, the conference announced Friday, and also received an All-Big Sky honorable mention in doubles with her partner Bianca Bostrom.

Her singles accolade breaks a four-year drought of first-team honorees for the Griz, with the last being both Sasha Carter and Precious Gbadamosi in 2015.

For head coach Steve Ascher, Ronney has quickly improved her game to reach the level of those former Griz stars, but it wasn't easy.

"It's amazing the amount of work she put in to get there in terms of how she competes on the court. She's been able to channel the competitive fire she has and was able to use it in such an effective way in every match this year," said Ascher.

"She made some big advancements in some strategy pieces in her game and improved her leadership too. She improved in so many different aspects of her game and put together that kind of season in the face of some injury and illness as well, which is cool. She really overcame adversity."

After earning an all-conference honorable mention as a freshman, Ronney led the Grizzlies this season with a 15-12 overall record and went 9-9 during the most challenging spring duals schedule in UM history.

In nonconference play, she picked up a win over a Pac-12 opponent from Colorado and went three sets with players from Washington State, Minnesota, and Portland before finishing the year by going 8-2. During that stretch, her only loss came to Big Sky MVP Chiara Tomasetti and Wyoming's Elisa Koonik.

Her combined fall tournament and spring dual singles record also puts her in elite regional company at 10-4.

In doubles, the super sophomore duo of Ronney and Bostrom were UM's most consistent pair, going 4-4 together in Big Sky play and 5-7 overall.

The doubles honorable mention is the second All-Big Sky accolade of Bostrom's career, coming off an all-conference second-team season in 2018 with Cam Kincaid.

Ronney and Bostrom both return in 2019-20, and as juniors will serve as the team's elder states-women with no seniors on next year's youthful roster.

Ascher says the pair's experience as two of Big Sky's best will do wonders for the younger Grizzlies as they set their sights on returning to the conference tourney, and he wants fans to enjoy the ride.

"As a coach and as a fan, you want to watch it. You want to see that level because it's special to have it, and Julia brings it every time," said Ascher.

"Now her teammates get to practice against that, and the freshmen have that to look up to, and figure out what it will take for them to get to the same place."

2019 Big Sky Women's Tennis All-Conference Team

First Team Singles
*%Chiara Tomasetti, Northern Arizona
*#Marianna Petrei, Idaho
*^Maria Tavares, Idaho
Julia Ronney, Montana
Madeline Lamoreaux, Eastern Washington
Jessica Stefan, Southern Utah

*Unanimous All-Big Sky First Team Singles Selection
#Four-time All-Big Sky First Team Singles Selection
%Three-time All-Big Sky First Team Singles Selection
^Two-time All-Big Sky First Team Singles Selection

Second Team Singles
Emilie Haakansson, Northern Arizona
Eszter Zador, Portland State
Jenna Dorian, Sacramento State
Laura Spataro, Idaho
Laura Mary, Montana State
Zoey Nelson, Eastern Washington
Marta Magalhaes, Idaho

Honorable Mention Singles
Megan Poe, Idaho State
Cali Fuller, Weber State
Hanneke Lodewijks, Northern Arizona
Adrianna Sosnowska, Northern Arizona
Jayden Nielsen, Sacramento State
Yuuna Ukita, Weber State

First Team Doubles
Madeline Lamoreaux/Rylee Braeden, Eastern Washington
^Marianna Petrei/Maria Tavares, Idaho
^Hanneke Lodewijks/Ellie Millard, Northern Arizona

^Two-time All-Big Sky First Team Doubles Selection

Second Team Doubles
Zoey Nelson/Louise Waite, Eastern Washington
Melissa Coburn/Madison Fenske, Idaho State
Sara Parker/Pei-Hsuan Kuo, Weber State

Honorable Mention Doubles
Laura Mary/Linnea Fristam, Montana State
Megan Lombardi/Yuuna Ukita, Weber State
Julia Ronney/Bianca Bostrom, Montana

Individual Awards
Big Sky Most Valuable Player: Chiara Tomasetti, Northern Arizona
Big Sky Freshman of the Year: Madeline Lamoreaux, Eastern Washington

University of Montana Athletics

Ronney first-team All-Big Sky in singles, repeats with Bostrom in doubles

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Players Mentioned

Bianca Bostrom

Sasha Carter

Precious Gbadamosi

Cam Kincaid

Julia Ronney

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