Montana upsets Air Force 4-3 to advance 2-0 on the season

Sunday, January 16

Missoula, Mont.

NOON

Montana

Air Force

Photo by: Derek Johnson

Montana upsets Air Force 4-3 to advance 2-0 on the season

1/16/2022 4:40:00 PM | Men's Tennis

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The Montana Men's tennis team picked up its first upset of the season after a 4-3 win over Air Force at the PEAK Racquet Club in Missoula.

The win gives the Grizzlies a weekend sweep to open the season after beating Eastern Washington 7-0 on Friday to improve to 2-0 on the early season.

Montana jumped out to an early advantage against the Falcons (1-2) - themselves coming off a 6-1 win over the Eagles on Saturday – by winning the doubles point and two singles matches to take a 3-0 overall lead. But the cadets stormed back to tie the match at three, leaving senior Milo Benn to clinch the match for UM on court six.

"A win's a win. I think we got very, very fortunate today. Air Force outplayed us in a lot of spots. I'm really proud of Milo Benn. He's a senior, coming off the bench and wasn't expecting to play today. The fact that he hadn't played a competitive match for a few months and clinched the win for his team was a big deal, especially for a senior," said head coach Jason Brown.

Gallery: (1-16-2022) MTEN:: vs AFA 1.16.22

The Griz started the match with momentum, clinching the doubles point to get off to a solid start. Montana's Lawrence Sciglitano and Moritz Stoeger came out firing on court two, breaking Air Force's serve to put them up 3-1 en route to a 6-2 victory over Air Force's Mascagni/Kersten pair.

On court one, Ed Pudney and Oisin Shaffrey took down the Falcons' Baylon/Azuma 6-3 to clinch the doubles point and put the Grizzlies up 1-0.

Stoeger staying hot after doubles, cruising to a 6-0 win against the Falcons' Justin Waldman in the first set. In the second set he broke Waldman's serve to put him up 4-3, and went on to win the set 6-3 to put the Griz up 2-0 over the Falcons.

Air Force's Robert Baylon started gaining momentum for the Falcons after defeating Montana's Ed Pudney in straight sets 7-5, 7-6 on court one, bringing the score to 2-1.

On court three, Sciglitano got his second singles win as a Grizzly after winning in straight sets versus Nick Vroman 6-4, 6-0.

On court two, Shaffrey forced Jonathan Mascagni to a nail-biting tiebreaker in the second set, where he led 6-4, but fell on serve. The break gave Mascagni the win in straight sets 7-5, 7-6 (8), cutting the Grizzlies lead to just one.

Freshman Sam Baldwin took his first loss at UM to Air Force's Kersten (6-2, 6-2), which allowed for the Falcons to break the deficit and tie the overall match at three.

The last match of the day was the most crucial, determining who would be leaving the PEAK with a win. Senior Milo Benn used his upperclassman experience to defeat Kyle Garner in come-from-behind fashion in three sets (1-6, 6-1, 6-3) clinching the upset win for the Grizzlies.

"It was a crazy match. It was a team effort and the guys pulled through. It was great to have all support behind me," added Benn.

The Griz will be back on the courts Saturday, Feb 5 where they will be traveling to Boise for a pair of matches. They take on the Broncos Saturday at 5 p.m. and the Redhawks Sunday, Feb. 6 at 10 a.m.