Griz look to remain unbeaten in two-match road swing

#62 Montana @ #52 Gonzaga
Friday, March 18, 5 p.m. (MT)
Stephens Center - Spokane, Wash.
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#62 Montana @ Eastern Washington
Saturday, March 19, 2 p.m. (MT)
Jim Thorpe Field House – Cheney, Wash.
Live Coverage: N/A

MISSOULA, Mont. – In decades upon decades of Montana men's tennis, it's never happened. This week, the Griz get the chance to make (more) history.

Off to their best-ever start to a season, the No. 62 Grizzlies will play their first ranked-versus-ranked match this week as UM travels to Spokane to take on the No. 52 Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Montana (9-0) will face the Zags (9-3) in a non-conference matchup that carries heavyweight implications in terms of the ITA's national rankings at 5 p.m. (MT) on Friday, March 18, at GU's Stevens Tennis Center.

But while the sound of a top-75 matchup has pizzazz, more importantly, Montana then travels to Cheney on Saturday at 2 p.m. (MT) for a Big Sky Conference match at Eastern Washington (2-10) as the Griz look to improve to 2-0 in league play.

With the top six teams in the league qualifying for the Big Sky championship and four of UM's last seven conference matches coming at home, a road league win will be a major step toward returning to the tourney.

After a two-week training period, the weekend slate ahead gives the Griz a chance to show some sizzle, but the steak of a conference match is what's really for dinner.

"The focus of this trip is Eastern Washington and getting a conference win. So, Gonzaga feels a little bit like a bonus," said head coach Jason Brown.

"Playing a nationally ranked team on the road is a great challenge for us at this point in the season. It really is all upside. If we win, we celebrate. If we lose, we learn where we need to get better. So, we're just really excited to go play. We respect Gonzaga's team and coaching staff a lot, and our guys are just pumped to go battle."

The Griz are no strangers to success at the Stevens Center, having knocked off the Bulldogs last year in Spokane 4-3, a match the Zags entered ranked – oddly enough – No. 62 in the country.

But the last time Montana played in Cheney, the Griz went away with a 2-5 loss, a fact that's not lost on Brown. However, the Grizzlies already hold a win over EWU this season, having beat the Eagles 7-0 in non-conference play in Missoula to start the season.

"It's always tricky to play at Eastern, especially at their indoor facility. So, we're going to hopefully learn from that loss, look at what we did earlier this season, and move forward," Brown added.

// GRIZ TRACKS //

• Montana is 9-0 for the first time in program history, having earned upsets over a pair of Mountain West Conference teams in Air Force (4-3), and No. 58 Boise State (4-3).

• The Griz opened the duals season at home with a 7-0 win over Eastern Washington. Montana won the doubles point and took five of the six singles wins in straight sets.

• Senior Ed Pudney enters the weekend at 8-1 on court one singles to lead Montana.

• As a team, the Griz are 9-0 on court three, undefeated in the middle of the lineup. Three players have slotted in at No. 3 this season, with Lawrence Sciglitano (4-0), Oisin Shaffrey (2-0), and Gustav Theilgaard (3-0) all unbeaten.

• Montana is 23-1 in doubles so far this season, having clinched the opening point in all nine duals. As a pair, Pudney and Shaffrey are 9-0 on doubles court one.

• Pudney has twice been named the Big Sky Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Week this season. Sciglitano and Theilgaard have also earned the award.

• Montana has played four weeks of competition this season and won the Big Sky player of the week award four times.

• Theilgaard, a freshman, has Montana's best winning percentage at 7-0 in both singles and doubles this season. The Dane has not played a match to three sets so far this year.

• Montana is the only undefeated D-I team remaining in the ITA Top-75 national poll this week at 9-0 after Utah lost to No. 10 Stanford (0-4) and No. 43 California (2-5).

// SCOUTING THE ZAGS //

• Montana returns all three players who picked up singles wins in last year's 4-3 win at Gonzaga. UM No. 1 Ed Pudney earned a straight-set win over Sasha Trkulja, who enters this week at 6-4 at No. 1 for GU, setting up a potentially intriguing rematch.

• Moritz Stoeger and Pontus Hallgren each earned singles wins against the Zags last year, with Hallgren clinching for the Griz in three sets on court five.

• At 9-3, Gonzaga's only three losses this season have come at No. 27 Utah (1-4), at No. 26 San Diego (0-4), and at No. 64 Denver (3-4).

• The Zags have had little trouble against Big Sky opponents, beating Montana State 4-0 in January and Idaho 6-1 in February, both at home.

// SCOUTING THE EAGS //

• Last time in Cheney, UM suffered a 2-5 loss in 2019 where the Griz couldn't recover from a loss in the doubles round. Montana's two wins came from Ed Pudney and Oisin Shaffrey, however, both winning in straight sets on courts four and five, respectively.

• Montana swept the Eagles in Missoula back in February 7-0 and followed that match up with a win over Air Force later that weekend. EWU would lose to Air Force 6-1 in Missoula as well.

• Eastern's two wins have come against D-III opponents, beating Whitworth 6-1 and Whitman 7-0. Montana beat both teams 7-0 this season.

• EWU enters the match having lost four-straight Big Sky matches, all on the road, at Weber State (1-6), Idaho State (0-7), NAU (0-7), and Portland State (3-4).

• Former Montana State head coach Jared Burnham is in his third season at EWU.

Griz look to remain unbeaten in two-match road swing

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Players Mentioned

Pontus Hallgren

Ed Pudney

Lawrence Sciglitano

Oisin Shaffrey

Moritz Stoeger

Gustav Theilgaard

University of Montana Athletics