Griz fall to #52 Gonzaga, snapping unbeaten streak

Friday, March 18

Spokane, Wash.

5 PM (MT)

Montana

Gonzaga

Photo by: Tommy Martino/UM Athletics

3/18/2022 9:45:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

All good things come to an end.

The No. 62 Montana men's tennis team came up short in its upset bid against the No. 52 Gonzaga Bulldogs Friday in Spokane, falling to the Zags 4-0 in a non-conference match played to clinch at the Stevens Tennis Center.

The loss snaps Montana's nine-match win streak and moves UM to 9-1 (1-0 BSC) on the season.

The Bulldogs showed they were as good as advertised, avenging their 2021 loss to the Griz and improving to 10-3 on the season, with their three losses coming to higher-ranked opponents.

Montana started slowly in doubles, falling on courts one and three to give Gonzaga the clinch in the opening point. The Griz had their chances to pick up wins in singles, but it was too little, too late, as GU clinched the overall match with wins at the bottom of the lineup on courts six, three, and five.

"The better team won today for sure. Gonzaga outplayed us in doubles, and we had trouble getting anything going in singles," said head coach Jason Brown.

"The loss stings, but it takes the pressure off us in terms of staying undefeated. Now we can focus on winning Big Sky matches, starting tomorrow at Eastern Washington. That's the ultimate goal."

Oisin Shaffrey and Ed Pudney suffered their first loss as a doubles pair this season to start the match, falling 1-6 to GU's Trkulja/Hollingworth pair on court one.

The Zags then clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 win on court three, with the Andersson/McDonald pair beating Milo Benn and Gustav Theilgaard to put GU up 1-0.

Montana then dropped three straight-set matches to start the singles round, with Theilgaard, Pudney, and Lawrence Sciglitano's matches each remaining unfinished as they competed for wins.

Milo Benn fell to Leon Roider 6-2, 6-3 on court six, and Shaffrey dropped a 6-4, 6-2 match to Oliver Andersson on court three to make it a 3-0 Gonzaga lead.

Playing in his first match since returning from injury, Moritz Stoeger then fell to Tom Han 6-3, 6-4 on court five to seal the win for the Bulldogs.

Montana now turns its attention to Big Sky play and the Eastern Washington Eagles, seeking to improve to 2-0 in league action. The Griz travel to Cheney on Saturday afternoon to face EWU at 2 p.m. (MT)