Griz push Gophers in competitive loss

Saturday, January 18

Missoula, Mont.

9 AM

Montana

Minnesota

Photo by: Derek Johnson

1/18/2020 3:31:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana All-Big Sky junior Julia Ronney picked up her first win of the season as the Montana women's tennis team gave the Minnesota Golden Gophers all they could handle in a 6-1 loss to the visitors from the Big Ten Conference.

The Grizzlies fell to 0-3 on the early season after dropping a competitive doubleheader to the Utah Utes on Friday, while the Gophers picked up their first win of the season to move to 1-0. Utah and Minnesota will now cap the weekend in Missoula with a neutral-site dual at the Peak on Sunday morning at 8 a.m.

The Griz showed no signs of being out-matched by the Gophers, splitting two of the three matches to nearly pulling off an upset in the doubles round and forcing two singles matches into a third set.

"I think the intensity went up. Just looking at how they were moving, they were hitting it a little bit sharper, being more engaged in how they were competing, and obviously, that makes a huge difference," said head coach Steve Ascher.

Montana opened the match with a barn burner in doubles, with sophomores Lauren Dunlap and Alex Walker pairing up on court three for a 6-3 win over Minnesota's Hart/Ercetin pair.

Meanwhile, on court one, Ronney and freshman Olivia Oosterbaan were neck-and-neck with the Gopher's No. 1 pair, trading leads before falling in a tiebreak 7-6 (5) to give the visitors the overall opening point.

After a slow start in the first singles set, Ronney flipped an internal switch and bounced back for a three-set (1-6, 6-3, 7-5) win over senior Tina Kreinis, who was ranked as high as No. 95 in the nation as a junior. The win avenges Ronney's three-set loss to Kreinis last season when the Griz faced the Gophers in Minneapolis.

"It looked like she made that decision in the second set that, hey, 'I'm going to compete today. I'm going to make this happen, I'm going to will myself to win this,' and she did. I feel like she did a really good job at the end, playing freely and completing the match," said Ascher.

On court two, Oosterbaan continued the impressive start to her collegiate career, taking a first set win over Tiffany Huber and hanging tough in the second set before eventually falling in the third 6-4, 4-6, 5-7.

Oosterbaan, a freshman, has impressed early on with her strength and physicality and is set to make a major impact on the Montana lineup as the conference season nears.

"After the fall, this was definitely something we expected out of her, and I think there's still room for growth. But she wants it, she has fun with it, and she has tons of ability," said Ascher.

Montana now returns to the practice courts for the next two weeks before returning to action on Feb. 1 against Grand Canyon in Missoula.