Griz fall to Eagles in final match of season

Sunday, April 18

Missoula, Mont.

1:30 PM

Montana

Eastern Washington

Photo by: Derek Johnson

4/18/2021 7:59:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana women's tennis team played its final match of the season on Sunday, falling to the first-place Eastern Washington Eagles 5-2 in a tense battle at the PEAK Racquet Club in Missoula.

The Grizzlies now finish the truncated 2021 season at .500 (6-6, 2-2 Big Sky), their best record since 2018. Eastern Washington improves to 8-8 and remains undefeated in conference play at 4-0 heading into the Big Sky tourney in Phoenix.

Montana was a tiebreaker away from winning the opening doubles point against the Eagles, with Julia Ronney and Olivia Oosterbaan winning on court one and the team win coming down to the wire on court two with Alex Walker and Lauren Dunlap.

Following the close call in doubles, the Grizzlies were overpowered in singles, with Maria Goheen and Dunlap picking up the Grizzlies' only two wins.

"I thought we had a really good opportunity in the doubles. We cruised at one, looked really good, and I thought the number two doubles did a nice job. Eastern just fought back in the end and took by a slight edge," said head coach Steve Ascher.

"I think that could have allowed us to put ourselves in a position to win this match because I knew it was going to be hard through the singles. It was probably going to be a split three, three, and then we were darn close."

Montana came out firing in doubles, taking early leads on the top two courts.

On Senior Day, Ronney and Oosterbaan played their last match together as a duo on court one. They cruised to a quick 6-2 win and had an emotional moment between the two after the match, with Ronney playing her final day in maroon and silver.

Shortly after, EWU's pair of Kida/Gabuzyan took down Montana's Ivayla Mitkova and Goheen quickly with a score of 6-1.

The deciding first point came down to Dunlap and Walker against EWU's duo of Matthews/Waite on-court two. While the two UM juniors built a 4-0 lead to start, it slowly faded as EWU came back and forced the tiebreaker, with the Eagles pulling out the clinching doubles point with a 7-2 win in the tiebreaker.

In singles, Dunlap scored the first point for the Griz due to her opponent retiring from the match due to injury on court three, tying the match 1-1.

Eastern Washington put another point on the board to take back the lead at 2-1 when Scout Matthews defeated Oosterbaan in straight sets of 6-0, 6-4 on court two.

However, the Grizzlies bounced back on court four, where Goheen dominated, cruising in straight sets of 6-0, 6-2, tying the score again, 2-2.

"I think she (Goheen) really stepped up. I don't think she gets a lot of credit for how well she's played. She has absolutely killed it the last month and took down a senior today who was Big Sky freshman of the year at one point. Maria basically dominated that match. So, she's really stepping up," said Ascher.

In her final singles match as a Griz, Ronney left it all on the court against Eastern Washington's Jennifer Kida in a clash between two of the Big Sky's top players.

Montana's lone senior kept pace with Kida in a back-and-forth match, but couldn't earn a breakthrough, with the visitor winning in straight sets 6-4, 7-5, giving the Eagles a 3-2 team advantage.

"Julia came in here and she set her goals high. To come out of season 9-3, that's an incredible mark anytime you get over 70 percent winning percentage. That's huge," said Ascher.

"I think the other big thing is she taught the other players how to win. She competes to win, and I think you have to have that quality."

Eastern Washington clinched the overall win on court six when UM's Claudia Reguant was defeated in straight sets of 6-4, 6-2 by EWU senior Rylee Braeden.

In the last match of the season for Montana, Mitkova lost in straight sets to Eagle senior Renata Gabuzyan in a tight 6-5 (4), 7-6 nail biter to finish the day with a 5-2 scoreline in favor of the Eagles.

Eastern Washington will continue their season in Phoenix at the Big Sky Championships while the Grizzlies turn their attention to the 2021 fall tournament season.

"I'm excited because I think Ivayla, Maria, Olivia, and Lauren have gotten a lot of good results this spring, and they fought hard," Ascher added.

"So, we have that good base, and we're bringing in three more players that they can mold into that. We have some leadership and some really good quality. So, I'm excited about that. I know they want it, so I'm excited about Montana tennis."