Griz suffer second Big Sky Conference loss in Cheney

Saturday, March 5

Cheney, Wash.

11 AM (MT)

Montana

Eastern Washington

Photo by: Derek Johnson

Griz suffer second Big Sky Conference loss in Cheney

3/5/2022 6:13:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

CHENEY, Wash. – The Montana women's tennis team fell to Eastern Washington, 4-3, in its second Big Sky Conference match of the season Saturday afternoon. The Griz (4-9) are now 0-2 in Big Sky play.

"We fought tooth and nail until the bitter end. We're constantly striving to get one more point to get one of these hard-fought matches," said head coach Steve Ascher.

The day started with Eastern Washington (2-6, 1-0 BSC) sweeping doubles and clinching the first point of the day. Grizzlies Alex Walker and Lauren Dunlap faced EWU's Matthew/Kida duo on court three, where they lost 6-2. On court one, juniors Olivia Oosterbaan and Ivayla Mitkova fell to the Mansouri/Foshee pair 6-3. Grace Haugen and Maria Goheen were the last to finish on court two, where they fell to Eagles Gabuzyan/Mann 6-4.

Grizzly Goheen entered singles, breaking Eastern's momentum. The junior defeated Isabella Foshee in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. The win knotted things up between the Griz and Eagles, 1-1.

EWU came back on court three, where Eagle Scout Matthews beat Grizzly Dunlap in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3.

The match was going back-and-forth between the two teams thanks to a win on court two for UM's Oosterbaan. The Grizzly beat Yasmin Mansouri in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4, bringing the overall score to 2-2.

Freshman Griz, Haugen, fell to Jennifer Kida in position one after playing in three sets. Kida took the first set 6-2, but Haugen came back in the second to win 6-4. Eastern's Kida won in the third set, 6-2, to put the Eagles up 3-2 on the Griz.

It was the same situation for UM's Walker on court six. The senior faced Kenzington Mann where she fell in the first set, 6-2. Walker worked to make a comeback in the second to win 6-3. The last set went to Mann, where she won 6-3 and clinched the win for the Eagles, putting the team up 4-2.

On court five, Grizzly Mitkova gave the Griz their third point on the day, where she won in three sets over Renata Gabuzyan. Mitkova made quick work in the first set, winning 6-1. Eagle Gabuzyan came back in the second, winning 6-3. The junior Griz took the third set after winning in a super tiebreaker 7-6 (3).

The Griz now look ahead to their third match on the weekend versus Idaho. The match will take place Sunday at 11 a.m. (MT) at the LCSC Tennis Courts in Lewiston, Idaho. Live streaming is available for fans on GoGriz.com.