Griz upset ‘Lopes 6-1 in Boise

Saturday, January 23

Boise, Idaho

11 AM

Montana

Grand Canyon

1/23/2021 2:56:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

BOISE, Idaho - The Montana men's tennis team picked up its first win of the new season with a decisive 6-1 victory over the Grand Canyon Antelopes on the neutral courts of the Boas Indoor Tennis Center at Boise State.

The Grizzlies now return to Missoula at 1-1 on the season, having split the two-match series against GCU and Boise State in Boise and secured UM's first win over the 'Lopes since 2012.

Montana picked up early momentum in the match, forcing a tiebreaker for the doubles point for the second-straight match. But unlike they did against the Broncos, UM would come out on the winning end against GCU to take a 1-0 team lead heading into singles.

The Griz quickly clinched the overall win in singles, with Pontus Hallgren, Ed Pudney, and Oisin Shaffrey taking straight-set wins to secure the team victory. Montana freshmen Sam Nicholson and Moritz Stoeger each picked up a win as well – their first in maroon and silver.

"We're really happy with the response from yesterday, playing a good team last night then playing another really good team today. Our guys stuck to what they knew would work for them if they executed well, and they did it. It was a team effort. Everybody had a piece in this," said head coach Jason Brown.

In doubles, Grand Canyon took the early lead with a 6-3 win on court one over Montana's Pudney/Nicholson pair. Shortly after, however, Shaffrey and Chase Bartlett leveled the score with a 6-4 win on court two.

The decider came down to court three, where once again, a tiebreaker would dictate the point. Hallgren and Stoeger trailed for much of the set but gritted out an emotional come-from-behind win in the breaker to win 7-6 (4) to give the Grizzlies all the momentum headed to singles.

"You hate to say the doubles point makes that much of a difference, but I swear it does. We just felt the momentum shift when Pontus and Moritz stepped up and won a very tight doubles point in a spot where a freshman could easily overthink it," said Brown.

In Singles, Hallgren cruised on court six 6-2, 6-4 to give the Griz their first win of the round and bring the overall score to 2-0. Following a loss on three from Bartlett, Pudney gave the Griz a 3-1 overall lead with a big 6-2, 7-5 win over Valentin Lang on court one to solidify Montana's momentum.

"That's a huge win at number one," said Brown of Pudney's win. "The kid he played is really a tough out."

Shaffrey sealed the win on court two with a tiebreaker win in straight-sets (6-4, 7-6(6)) to clinch the Grizzlies' victory.

Montana now turns its attention to a three-match trip to Las Vegas, where the Griz will face Weber State in nonconference action, New Mexico State, and UNLV in a two-day span, January 29-30.