Griz rally to upset Portland 5-2

Friday, March 12

Portland, Ore.

11 AM

Montana

Portland

Photo by: Derek Johnson

3/12/2021 6:47:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana women's tennis team picked up its third-straight win with a 5-2 upset of the Portland Pilots on their home courts at the Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center in Portland on Thursday.

The Griz (4-3, 1-0 BSC) rebounded from a loss to the Pilots (1-4) in the doubles round to win five of the six singles matches, with freshman Ivayla Mitkova clinching the win for Montana on court five.

The win over the Pilots is the first for the Grizzlies since 2012 when Montana bounced back from a loss in the doubles round to take a 4-3 victory in Portland with a sweep in the bottom half of the lineup. Montana last faced Portland almost a year ago to the day, with the Pilots beating UM 6-1 in Missoula just before the pandemic stopped play.

The win also puts Montana above the .500 mark for the first time since 2015, with the Grizzlies now winners of three-straight for the first time since 2016.

"I thought we competed extremely well today. It was another solid match, and it's great to see us competing so well with consistency now," said UM head coach Steve Ascher, a University of Portland alum.

After falling behind 1-0 in the match with a loss in the doubles round, Montana quickly leveled the playing field with Lauren Dunlap winning 6-4, 6-1, over Emily Soares on court three.

Following a Pilot win on court two, Montana No. 1 Julia Ronney leveled the scores for UM once again, defeating Portland's Iva Zelic in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, to tie the match 2-2 and improve her personal singles record to 5-2 on the season.

The bottom of Montana's lineup then took the momentum and carried the Grizzlies to win with three-straight victories.

Junior Alex Walker got her second win of the season on court six (6-4, 6-0) to put the Grizzlies out in front 3-2.

"I was super proud of how Alex made adjustments and really worked her game plan for her win," said Ascher.

With the pressure on, Mitkova then took the clincher for Montana, sweeping Portland's Ramona Rauf 6-4, 6-3 – her first clinch in maroon and silver.

"Going into today's match, I really wanted to have the chance to clinch. Obviously, I couldn't control the situation, but I am super happy to have gotten the chance," Mitkova said.

"The team really helped me take the win, and they brought so much energy. I think we can do so many more amazing things this season. We deserve it. We have been working so hard."

Maria Goheen then extended Montana's win with a three-set superbreaker on court four, beating UP's Angela Schuster 2-6, 6-1, 10-8 to make the final score 5-2 in favor of the Griz.

Montana will now return to Big Sky Conference play on its two-match trip to Oregon, with the Griz set to take on Portland State on Sunday, March 14, with opening serves going up at 11 a.m. local time/noon mountain.

The Grizzlies are 1-0 in conference play after picking up a 6-1 Brawl of the Wild win over Montana State in late February.