Griz top Pacific 6-1, turn focus to Big Sky play

Saturday, February 26

Forest Grove, Ore.

Noon (MT)

Montana

Pacific

Photo by: Derek Johnson

2/26/2022 6:28:00 PM | Men's Tennis

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By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana men's tennis team took care of business against Pacific University on Saturday, rolling to a 6-1 win over the Boxers on their home courts in Oregon.

With the win, the No. 63-ranked Griz remain unbeaten at 8-0 on the season and move to 2-0 on the weekend trip to the Rose City with their most important match to date coming up on Sunday when they open Big Sky Conference play at Portland State.

Montana built plenty of momentum in the match at Pacific, winning its sixth-straight doubles point without a loss and eighth on the season. Senior Ed Pudney then led the Griz in singles on court one, with UM winning three of the top-four matches to clinch the overall win.

"This match went really well. I think the guys played better than they did yesterday and got more adjusted sea level. It was a good, solid performance, top to bottom," said head coach Jason Brown.

"When the doubles teams play like that, and our number one guy continues to win, it puts us up two-nothing right away and gives us pretty good momentum."

Pudney has been nothing short of stellar for the Griz in his senior season with an 8-0 spring record and an 18-2 singles record that dates back to the fall tournament season. He and his doubles partner Oisin Shaffrey are also undefeated on the No. 1 court at 8-0 this spring and have built a 16-3 record as a pair since the fall.

Against Pacific, Pudney and Shaffrey cruised to a 6-2 win over the Boxer's Miyagawa/Tran pair, with Lawrence Sciglitano and Pontus Hallgren clinching the opening doubles point for UM 6-3 on court two shortly after.

In singles, Pudney again made quick work of his opponent, beating Miyagawa 6-1, 6-0 for UM's first win of the day and putting the Griz up 2-0 overall.

Lawrence Sciglitano and Gustav Theilgaard then clinched the win for Montana with Sciglitano winning 7-5, 6-0 on court three and Theilgaard once again dominating with a 6-1, 6-0 win on court four.

Theilgaard has been another constant winner for the Griz in his first season at UM, undefeated in both singles and doubles at 6-0 this spring, with all six singles wins coming in straight sets and not allowing his opponent to win a single game in six of those 12 sets.

Milo Benn and Sam Baldwin finished off the winning for Montana, with Benn winning 6-4, 6-1 on court five and Baldwin improving to 3-1 in his freshman season with an easy 6-0, 6-1.

The Grizzlies now turn their attention to Portland State, where Montana opens Big Sky Conference play on Sunday at 11 a.m. (MT). The Vikings have been a thorn in UM's side in recent years, with Montana having dropped three of the last four meetings.

However, Brown says that with two wins under his team's belt this week in Oregon, the Griz are finding their form.

"I think we've made great adjustments and have gotten used to playing at sea level. Those conditions take a few days to acclimatize to, and I think the guys have adjusted really well."