Cats spoil Griz comeback attempt in Missoula

Sunday, March 8

Missoula, Mont.

9 AM

Montana

Montana State

3/8/2020 3:18:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Just as it did in 2019, the outcome of the Montana women's tennis Brawl of the Wild match against Montana State came down to the final match of the day with Claudia Reguant on court six.

But unlike last year when the Griz capped their season with a win in Bozeman, it was Montana State that would eke out a 4-3 win over Montana with Reguant falling in the decider on court six Sunday morning at the Peak in Missoula.

In another repeat of the 2019 Brawl of the Wild, MSU would open the match with an early lead, taking two of the three doubles matches to jump out to a 1-0 advantage. But this year, the Grizzlies could only pick up three of the four wins needed in the singles round to pick up a come-from-behind team win.

The loss, Montana's ninth-straight and the second-straight for MSU in Missoula, drops the Griz to 1-12 on the season and hands the team its second Big Sky Conference loss at 0-2 in league play. Montana State, meanwhile, improves to 3-10 overall 1-0 in Big Sky play. The loss also clinches the overall 2019-20 Brawl of the Wild series for the Bobcats.

"It's a deadening feeling. It's a bummer because we had opportunities to take the doubles point. But I think the biggest thing is we just didn't close the door when we needed to, and we kept giving them a little bit of hope, and they toughed it out. It wasn't a good tennis match, but Montana State survived it and got the win," said head coach Steve Ascher.

"It's sobering. You prep, and put in the work, but pressure can get in your way, nerves can get in your way. How do you move past it and raise the intensity? These are questions we explore daily, so we'll use this to be better. No doubt about it."

Montana started from behind in the doubles round with Bianca Bostrom and Maria Goheen falling to MSU's Mary/Van Baelen pair on court two 6-3, but Lauren Dunlap and Alex Walker evened the score soon after with a 6-2 win on court two.

In the deciding doubles match on court one, Julia Ronney and Olivia Oosterbaan looked to be on their way to a win, building a 4-2 lead. But errors started to creep in, and MSU captured the momentum, winning three-straight games to take a 5-4 lead.

Even still, the No. 1 pair for the Grizzlies fought their way back to a lead, winning the next two games to build a 6-5 lead, needing just one more game to clinch the doubles round. But in two-straight match points, the Grizzlies bowed to the pressure and double-faulted on the serve to give MSU's Fristam/Ward pair the momentum that led to a 7-6 (1) win in a tiebreaker.

Montana quickly regained the lead and momentum in singles, however, with Dunlap and Goheen taking a pair of straight-set wins on courts four and three, respectively, to put Montana out to a 2-1 lead.

On court two, Oosterbaan suffered a slow start to her singles match against MSU's Linnea Fristam that she couldn't recover from, despite a valiant effort in a first-set tiebreaker. The freshman scrapped and clawed her way back into it, but Montana State leveled the score 2-2 when Fristam took the 7-6 (5), 6-4 win.

On court one, Ronney put the Griz back in front after she too battled through a first-set tiebreaker. The Grizzlies' first-team All-Big Sky junior rebounded from a slow start to win to grind out a 7-6 (4), 7-5 win over MSU's Laura Mary for the win that left UM needing just one more win out of the two remaining matches to clinch a victory.

With the match in the balance, Montana was overpowered in the final two matches of the day, with Bostrom falling in straight sets to MSU's JJ Chen 6-3, 6-3, and Reguant not able to capitalize on an early lead in a 6-4, 6-1 loss to MSU junior Enni Zander.

The Grizzlies now return to the road over spring break for three matches March 14-17. UM travels south for league matches against Idaho State and Weber State and will also face Utah State in Logan.