Sunday, February 28
Missoula, Mont.
1:30 PM
Montana
6
vs
1
Montana State
Griz grind past Cats in Brawl of the Wild
2/28/2021 9:19:00 PM | Women's Tennis
They were made to work for it, but the Montana women's tennis team picked up a convincing 6-1 win over Montana State to take the annual Brawl of the Wild match at the PEAK Racquet Club in Missoula on Sunday.
The win gives the Grizzlies a weekend home sweep after beating Idaho State 5-2 on Friday and their first win over the Bobcats on their home courts in Missoula since 2016.
The Griz came out firing in the cross-state battle by cruising to three wins in the doubles round. But the Bobcats would battle back and split sets on four of the six singles courts to give the UM some tense moments before pulling away for the lopsided win.
Montana improves to 3-3 on the season, with their only losses coming against Gonzaga and Washington State, while Montana State falls to 0-4.
"This one feels good. It was a real battle today. I think Montana State fought incredibly well today. They brought it. It was intense. We picked up the doubles point, but we had some singles matches that were real grinders," said head coach Steve Ascher.
"Everyone had to go through a little adversity to finish, so I'm just really proud of the team in terms of their mentality and staying with it. A big part of growing is winning. You've got to learn how to win, and I think this shows we're doing that."
The Grizzlies last faced the Bobcats nearly a year ago to the week when they fell to MSU 4-3 in what would be the final match of the 2020 season before it was canceled due to the pandemic.
Just as it was against Idaho State on Friday, the doubles round proved costly for the Griz that day, with slow starts plaguing the Griz in both matches.
But the Griz flipped the script Sunday, allowing the Cats to win a total of just three games on courts two and three to capture the momentum heading into singles, where they would carry it through to the rivalry win.
"Today felt awesome," said sophomore Olivia Oosterbaan, who endured another marathon tiebreaker en route to her first team win over the Cats.
"It's a great turn-around from last year. I think it just shows how much we've grown as a team and how hard we've worked. So, it's awesome to see it pay off for sure."
UM swept the doubles round to win the all-important opening point. On court two, Lauren Dunlap and Alex Walker were the first to finish with a clean 6-2 win over MSU's Van Baelen/Zander pair.
The Griz clinched the point on court three where freshman Ivayla Mitkova and sophomore Maria Goheen rolled to a momentum-building 6-1 win over the Cats' Chen/Jayasaputra duo, and Montana's Ronney/Oosterbaan duo added the cherry on top with a 6-4 win.
Montana kept their lead and momentum going into the singles matches. On court three, Dunlap dominated MSU's Jazmin Lerman 6-2, 6-1 to improve UM's team lead to 2-0.
MSU turned up the heat on the Griz from there out, with Grizzly senior Julia Ronney falling to senior Laura Mary 6-2 in the opening set after suffering a rash of unforced errors. But the defending Big Sky Player of the Week refocused to complete the comeback with 6-3, 6-4 wins in the final two sets.
The win gave Ronney an undefeated career record over Mary, with the Grizzly beating the senior Bobcat No 1 in each of the last three seasons.
With Ronney's comeback win complete, the Grizzlies took the momentum and clinched the match on court four, with Goheen rebounding from a second set loss to win 6-1, 4-6, 6-1.
Meanwhile, on court two, Oosterbaan was battling her way through yet another marathon tiebreaker. Against Idaho State, the sophomore used the momentum of a win in a 12-10 breaker point in the second set. She nearly pulled off a carbon copy Sunday, rebounding from a first set loss to win a second set breaker 11-9 to take the 4-6, 7-5 (9), 6-4 win that put UM out to a 5-0 lead.
"I just knew I had to keep fighting. I wasn't playing my best, so I had to really grind. I fought off a couple tough match points, which was really fun, and it turned my way luckily," Oosterbaan added.
Mitkova capped the match for the Grizzlies with a three-set win on court five, beating MSU's JJ Chen 6-4, 5-7, 6-0.
"I think this will give us a ton of confidence, especially because Idaho State and Montana State are both very mental matches. In order to beat them, you have to grind, so knowing we have this kind of will to win will definitely help us through the rest of the conference schedule for sure," said Oosterbaan.
The Grizzlies will now ride their two-match win streak into a road trip to Oregon, where they will face the Portland Pilots on March 12 before resuming Big Sky play on March 14 at Portland State.
Tennis Match Results
Montana State vs Montana
2/28/2021 at Missoula, Mont.
(PEAK Racquet Club)
Montana 6, Montana State 1
Singles competition
1. RONNEY, Julia (UM) def. MARY, Laura (MSU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
2. OOSTERBAAN, Olivia (UM) def. VAN BAELEN, Mirte (MSU) 4-6, 7-6 (11-9), 6-4
3. DUNLAP, Lauren (UM) def. LERMAN, Jazmin (MSU) 6-2, 6-1
4. GOHEEN, Maria (UM) def. JAYASAPUTRA, Felicia (MSU) 6-1, 4-6, 6-1
5. MITKOVA, Ivayla (UM) def. CHEN, JJ (MSU) 6-4, 5-7, 6-0
6. ZANDER, Enni (MSU) def. WALKER, Alex (UM) 7-5, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. RONNEY, Julia/OOSTERBAAN, Olivia (UM) def. MARY, Laura/LERMAN, Jazmin (MSU) 6-4
2. WALKER, Alex/DUNLAP, Lauren (UM) def. VAN BAELEN, Mirte/ZANDER, Enni (MSU) 6-2
3. MITKOVA, Ivayla/GOHEEN, Maria (UM) def. CHEN, JJ/JAYASAPUTRA, Felicia (MSU) 6-1
Match Notes:
Montana State 0-4
Montana 3-3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,1,4,2,5,6)
Brawl of the Wild match
Official: K. Delman T-4:15 A-10
The win gives the Grizzlies a weekend home sweep after beating Idaho State 5-2 on Friday and their first win over the Bobcats on their home courts in Missoula since 2016.
The Griz came out firing in the cross-state battle by cruising to three wins in the doubles round. But the Bobcats would battle back and split sets on four of the six singles courts to give the UM some tense moments before pulling away for the lopsided win.
Montana improves to 3-3 on the season, with their only losses coming against Gonzaga and Washington State, while Montana State falls to 0-4.
"This one feels good. It was a real battle today. I think Montana State fought incredibly well today. They brought it. It was intense. We picked up the doubles point, but we had some singles matches that were real grinders," said head coach Steve Ascher.
"Everyone had to go through a little adversity to finish, so I'm just really proud of the team in terms of their mentality and staying with it. A big part of growing is winning. You've got to learn how to win, and I think this shows we're doing that."
The Grizzlies last faced the Bobcats nearly a year ago to the week when they fell to MSU 4-3 in what would be the final match of the 2020 season before it was canceled due to the pandemic.
Just as it was against Idaho State on Friday, the doubles round proved costly for the Griz that day, with slow starts plaguing the Griz in both matches.
But the Griz flipped the script Sunday, allowing the Cats to win a total of just three games on courts two and three to capture the momentum heading into singles, where they would carry it through to the rivalry win.
"Today felt awesome," said sophomore Olivia Oosterbaan, who endured another marathon tiebreaker en route to her first team win over the Cats.
"It's a great turn-around from last year. I think it just shows how much we've grown as a team and how hard we've worked. So, it's awesome to see it pay off for sure."
UM swept the doubles round to win the all-important opening point. On court two, Lauren Dunlap and Alex Walker were the first to finish with a clean 6-2 win over MSU's Van Baelen/Zander pair.
The Griz clinched the point on court three where freshman Ivayla Mitkova and sophomore Maria Goheen rolled to a momentum-building 6-1 win over the Cats' Chen/Jayasaputra duo, and Montana's Ronney/Oosterbaan duo added the cherry on top with a 6-4 win.
Montana kept their lead and momentum going into the singles matches. On court three, Dunlap dominated MSU's Jazmin Lerman 6-2, 6-1 to improve UM's team lead to 2-0.
MSU turned up the heat on the Griz from there out, with Grizzly senior Julia Ronney falling to senior Laura Mary 6-2 in the opening set after suffering a rash of unforced errors. But the defending Big Sky Player of the Week refocused to complete the comeback with 6-3, 6-4 wins in the final two sets.
The win gave Ronney an undefeated career record over Mary, with the Grizzly beating the senior Bobcat No 1 in each of the last three seasons.
With Ronney's comeback win complete, the Grizzlies took the momentum and clinched the match on court four, with Goheen rebounding from a second set loss to win 6-1, 4-6, 6-1.
Meanwhile, on court two, Oosterbaan was battling her way through yet another marathon tiebreaker. Against Idaho State, the sophomore used the momentum of a win in a 12-10 breaker point in the second set. She nearly pulled off a carbon copy Sunday, rebounding from a first set loss to win a second set breaker 11-9 to take the 4-6, 7-5 (9), 6-4 win that put UM out to a 5-0 lead.
"I just knew I had to keep fighting. I wasn't playing my best, so I had to really grind. I fought off a couple tough match points, which was really fun, and it turned my way luckily," Oosterbaan added.
Mitkova capped the match for the Grizzlies with a three-set win on court five, beating MSU's JJ Chen 6-4, 5-7, 6-0.
"I think this will give us a ton of confidence, especially because Idaho State and Montana State are both very mental matches. In order to beat them, you have to grind, so knowing we have this kind of will to win will definitely help us through the rest of the conference schedule for sure," said Oosterbaan.
The Grizzlies will now ride their two-match win streak into a road trip to Oregon, where they will face the Portland Pilots on March 12 before resuming Big Sky play on March 14 at Portland State.
Tennis Match Results
Montana State vs Montana
2/28/2021 at Missoula, Mont.
(PEAK Racquet Club)
Montana 6, Montana State 1
Singles competition
1. RONNEY, Julia (UM) def. MARY, Laura (MSU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
2. OOSTERBAAN, Olivia (UM) def. VAN BAELEN, Mirte (MSU) 4-6, 7-6 (11-9), 6-4
3. DUNLAP, Lauren (UM) def. LERMAN, Jazmin (MSU) 6-2, 6-1
4. GOHEEN, Maria (UM) def. JAYASAPUTRA, Felicia (MSU) 6-1, 4-6, 6-1
5. MITKOVA, Ivayla (UM) def. CHEN, JJ (MSU) 6-4, 5-7, 6-0
6. ZANDER, Enni (MSU) def. WALKER, Alex (UM) 7-5, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. RONNEY, Julia/OOSTERBAAN, Olivia (UM) def. MARY, Laura/LERMAN, Jazmin (MSU) 6-4
2. WALKER, Alex/DUNLAP, Lauren (UM) def. VAN BAELEN, Mirte/ZANDER, Enni (MSU) 6-2
3. MITKOVA, Ivayla/GOHEEN, Maria (UM) def. CHEN, JJ/JAYASAPUTRA, Felicia (MSU) 6-1
Match Notes:
Montana State 0-4
Montana 3-3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,1,4,2,5,6)
Brawl of the Wild match
Official: K. Delman T-4:15 A-10
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,3,1
#1 Singles Match
123
MARY, Laura / 0 [MSU]
634
266
#2 Singles Match
123
VAN BAELEN, Mirte / 0 [MSU]
664
476
#3 Singles Match
12
LERMAN, Jazmin / 0 [MSU]
21
66
#4 Singles Match
123
JAYASAPUTRA, Felicia / 0 [MSU]
161
646
#5 Singles Match
123
CHEN, JJ / 0 [MSU]
470
656
#6 Singles Match
12
ZANDER, Enni / 0 [MSU]
76
52
Order of Finish:
3,1,4,2,5,6
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
Griz Volleyball Press Conference - 10/13/25
Monday, October 13
Griz TV Live Stream
Monday, October 13
Montana vs Cal Poly Highlights
Sunday, October 12
Griz Volleyball Weekly Press Conference - 10/6/25
Tuesday, October 07
