Griz, Cats, ready for round two in Bozeman

It may be non-conference, and It may not count toward the Brawl of the Wild standings, but whenever Montana plays Montana State you know the intensity will be through the roof.

The Montana women's tennis team has already beaten their cross-state rivals once this season, throttling the Cats 6-1 in Missoula in late February to claim the annual Brawl of the Wild point.

Now the Griz (5-4, 1-1 BSC) head to Bozeman at 10 a.m. on Sunday, April 4, for one final out-of-conference tussle against MSU (1-7, 0-2 BSC) buoyed with plenty of momentum as winners of four of their last five matches.

A win over the Cats won't be the only goal for the Griz, however.

A big one to be sure, but this week's match serves Montana well in the big picture as the final tune-up before returning home for a pair of crucial conference matches that will determine if they are to advance to the Big Sky championship tourney for the first time since 2015.

"We're just looking for one more weekend of good, competitive tennis to prepare for that last weekend," said head coach Steve Ascher.

"We've already played them, so we know they're going to battle, we know they're going to bring it. It's still going to feel like you're playing Montana State, so we'll feel that intensity but we're still trying to put ourselves in a really good position for that last weekend."

Montana will be led into battle by the defending, and three-time Big Sky Player of the Week Julia Ronney, who claimed her third weekly accolade of the season Tuesday after clinching a thrilling 4-3 win in a tiebreaker over Weber State last week

At 7-2 overall on the season, the UM ace has the third-most wins in the conference this season, and at .778 has the second-best win percentage on court one in the league.

The middle of Montana's lineup has also come on strong for the Griz in recent weeks, with Lauren Dunlap, Maria Goheen, and freshman Ivayla Mitkova all sitting above .500 at 5-4 on the season.

Following Sunday' one-off against the Cats, the Griz will cap the regular season against two traditionally strong rivals with Idaho and Eastern Washington coming to Missoula on April 16 and 18, respectively.

Both the Vandals and Eagles have been some of the best in the Big Sky in recent years, both advancing to the league championship in 2019, with Idaho falling to Northern Arizona in the title match.

So, how important is it for the Grizzlies to be at their absolute best this weekend in Bozeman?

"It's huge," Ascher says.

"We're playing good, and I love how we're continuing to improve and put in the work. So, I'm just excited for them. I'm excited they have a rivalry this weekend and something to play for in the last weekend of the regular season. It's fun."

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Players Mentioned

Lauren Dunlap

Maria Goheen

Ivayla Mitkova

Julia Ronney

University of Montana Athletics