No. 66 Griz return home to face Weber State

#66 Montana vs. Weber State
Saturday, March 26, 4 p.m.
Peak Racquet Club – Missoula, Mont.
Live Scoring

MISSOULA, Mont. - A top-70 ranking in the ITA national poll for the fifth-straight week? Yeah, that's nice.

A 10-1 record heading into the final month of the regular season? Sure, that's nice too.

But the real reason the Montana men's tennis team is excited? Conference play. The chance to make a run at a title. That's where the rubber meets the road.

With momentum built from those aforementioned achievements, the business end of Montana's season has arrived.

This week, the Griz (10-1, 2-0 BSC) get the chance to improve to 3-0 in Big Sky play with perennial powerhouse Weber State (6-10, 2-1 BSC) coming to Missoula for the first dual match between the two rivals since 2019.

Opening serves between the Griz and Wildcats are scheduled go to up at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 26, at the Peak Racquet Club south of Missoula, with admission free for all fans.

Montana lost its first match of the season last week, with chalk holding in a win for the No. 52 Gonzaga Bulldogs over the No. 62 Griz. But the Griz are 4-0 at home this year, and even more impressive, 25-2 in Missoula since 2018.

You read that right: head coach Jason Brown is 25-2 at home in his career at UM.

Montana is primed to keep the momentum rolling deep into the conference schedule with the Weber State dual kicking off a four-match homestand.

"We know how good we are in training. We know how hard we're working in the gym. But when we're keeping score against conference rivals is when it really matters," said Brown.

"The last half of March and all of April is when we want to peak and we like where our tennis is at. Now we get to go prove it."

// GRIZ TRACKS //

• Despite the loss to No. 52 Gonzaga last week, the Griz remain in the ITA top-75 poll this week at No. 66, dropping four slots from No. 62. One of Montana's biggest wins of the season came over Boise State, who sits at No. 70 this week. Gonzaga slid up to No. 51.

• At 2-0 in league play, No. 66 Montana sits in second in the Big Sky standings behind Montana State, who enters the weekend at 4-0 in league play. UM, MSU, and Northern Arizona are the lone remaining undefeated teams in Big Sky action.

• The Griz are led by senior Ed Pudney, who enters the week at 8-1 on court one singles this week and 19-2 overall this year, with tournament results included.

• Freshman phenom Gustav Theilgaard is Montana's lone undefeated player this season at 8-0 in singles, and having registered only one loss in doubles at 8-1.

• Oisin Shaffrey has led the way on the doubles court for UM, however, at 10-1 on court one in the crucial opening point.

// SCOUTING THE WILDCATS //

• Weber State comes to Montana at 6-10 overall but with a winning record of 2-1 in league play after knocking off Idaho last week 4-3 and Eastern Washington 6-1 in late February, with both wins coming in Ogden. WSU's lone conference loss was on the road at Idaho State, where they fell 1-6 to the Bengals.

• The Wildcats are led by freshman Sebastian Buxman, a South African who has been a staple on the No. 1 court at 6-5 this season.

• Fellow freshman Elyes Marouani has the most singles wins for WSU at 8-5 this season, with all but one match being played on court three.

• Doubles has been a strength for WSU, with the 'Cats at .500 in the round, winning the opening point in 8 of their 16 matches, including upsets over Oregon, Hawaii, and Air Force.

• Weber State is coached by Brad Ferreira, who is in his sixth season and is 63-52 at WSU.

// LAST MEETING //

You have to go back to back to 2019 to find the last time the Griz and Wildcats faced each other in a dual match – a scheduling oddity brought about by the pandemic.

However long ago, it's a happy memory for the Griz, who defended their home courts in Missoula with a 5-2 win that saw plenty of victories for members of this year's squad.

Now-seniors Oisin Shaffrey and Pontus Hallgren won in doubles along with Ed Pudney and the now-graduated Max Korkh to clinch the opening point for the Griz. Shaffrey and Hallgren would also pick up singles wins on courts five and six to lead UM to the victory.

Just because it's been a while doesn't mean there is no familiarity between the two teams this year, however. Players from the two programs butted heads often during the fall tournament season last semester, with Montana coming away with a 5-1 advantage in singles matches and a 3-1 record in doubles play.

// NEXT UP //

Montana's homestand continues next Saturday when the Griz host Idaho State and defending conference champion Northern Arizona on April 2 and 3 at the Peak in Missoula.

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Players Mentioned

Pontus Hallgren

Ed Pudney

Oisin Shaffrey

Gustav Theilgaard

University of Montana Athletics