Griz return to the road to face BYU and Utah

With only two matches played in over a month, the Montana men's tennis team returns to action this week rested and ready to test itself against two of the region's top teams when the Griz travel to the Wasatch Front to face BYU and Utah.

Montana opens the weekend in Provo, where the Griz (3-4) will take on the Cougars (3-4) on Friday, March 5, at 1 p.m. at BYU's outdoor courts. The Grizzlies cap the weekend slate on Saturday, March 6, in Salt Lake City, taking on the Utes (8-4) - who received votes in this week's ITA Top-50 ranking - at 3 p.m. at the Eccles Tennis Center.

Links to live video streaming (for the Utah match only) and live scoring for both matches can be found at GoGriz.com.

GRIZ TRACKS:  Montana last took the court on February 21, sweeping a home doubleheader against D-III Whitworth 7-0, 7-0, in a day of matches designed to get the full Grizzly roster as many reps as possible. Prior to that, UM hadn't played since January 30 thanks to a cancelation in mid-February at Whitman, making it 34 days with only two matches for the Griz.

However, the time in between has been productive, and the Griz, who were picked to win the Big Sky this season, are ready to make strides toward that goal this week in the Beehive State.

"We always talk about how the real heart of our season is March and April, and now it's March. It feels strange that we haven't competed in such a long time, but everyone is really excited to go and get back to it," said head coach Jason Brown.

"It will be a big challenge. BYU and Utah are traditionally tough, and nothing has changed. They're both usually in the top three or four teams in our region year-in and year-out. But I like taking the challenge to them on their home courts. It's all up-side for us."

Before the layoff, Montana saw early success this season, with Ed Pudney earning Big Sky Player of the Week honors after a Grizzly upset over Grand Canyon and competitive loss to Boise State in Boise.

Since then, Brown has tinkered with the lineup, trying to slot the right players in the right spots at the Big Sky season closes in.

Pudney and Oisin Shaffrey have each split time on singles court one, going a combined 3-3 in the leadoff position. In the second position, however, the Griz have seen better results with grad transfer Chase Bartlett, Sam Nicholson, Pudney, and Shaffrey combining for a 5-2 record.

In doubles, the bottom of the UM lineup has been lights-out with pairings of Pontus Hallgren, Moritz Stoeger, Guillermo Martin, Milo Benn, or Pudney combining for a 5-0 record on court three.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS: BYU enters Friday's match picked third in the West Coast Conference preseason coaches' poll for a second-straight year behind No. 27 Pepperdine and No. 37 San Diego.

The Cougars also picked up an early win over Grand Canyon (6-1) to open their season and have also claimed wins over Big Sky members Weber State and Idaho State. Narrow 3-4 losses to Utah State and New Mexico have kept the Cougs from being above .500 so far this season.

BYU senior and Wake Forest transfer Sean Hill will once again lead the Cougars on singles court one after being named to the WCC's preseason all-conference squad for a second-straight year with a national ranking of No. 98.

SCOUTING THE UTES: Of the two opponents this weekend, Montana is most familiar with Utah, having played the Utes in a dual at least once every season since 2011, while having not played BYU in a dual at all in recent history.

Despite the familiarity, the Utes will pose another strong challenge with senior Slava Shainyan coming off a team-best 13-2 singles record last year and getting out to an 8-3 record in 2021 that includes a 6-0 stretch from January 30 to February 25.

Freshman phenom Franco Capalbo will also pose a challenge for the Grizzlies as the reigning ITA Mountain Region's Rookie of the Year with an 8-5 record on court one in his first season. In doubles, Capalbo and his partner Geronimo Busleiman are 7-2 this season on court one, retaining the chemistry they had playing together as juniors, where they reached the semifinals of the Junior French Open.

Utah's match against Montana will be it's second of the day against UM, with the Utes hosting rival Utah State at 10 a.m. that morning in a doubleheader. Weather permitting, Utah plans to host the match outdoors at the Eccles Center, potentially giving UM its first match under the sun this season.

UP NEXT: Montana returns to the road in two weeks to open Big Sky play in the City of Roses, facing the University of Portland on March 20, followed by its first league match against Portland State on March 21.

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Players Mentioned

Chase Bartlett

Milo Benn

Pontus Hallgren

Guillermo Martin

Sam Nicholson

Ed Pudney

Oisin Shaffrey

Moritz Stoeger

University of Montana Athletics