Griz earn first conference win of the season

Friday, April 1

Missoula, Mont.

9:30 AM

Montana

Idaho State

Photo by: Tommy Martino

4/1/2022 2:34:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score Photo Gallery

MISSOULA, Mont. – The Montana women's tennis team earned its first Big Sky Conference win of the season, defeating Idaho State 5-2 in Friday morning's matchup. The Griz (6-12, 1-5 BSC) earned their first doubles sweep in conference play over the Bengals (10-5, 3-2 BSC) and continued the momentum into singles play to clinch the win.

Head coach Steve Ascher describes this win with one word: resilience. "It all comes down to resiliency. You don't just take that many losses and keep going. I think there's just something to be learned by continuing to persevere and get out and work every day. It's about doing the work and finding ways to finally get a win"

"I'm so excited and proud of the team. To come out and sweep doubles and then win four of the six matches in singles against a good Idaho State team is just awesome. It's emotional, it really is."

Grizzlies Lauren Dunlap and Grace Haugen started the Griz off strong in doubles, coming away with a 6-3 win over the S. O'Lideadha/Kuruvilla duo on court one. Juniors Olivia Oosterbaan and Maria Goheen clinched the doubles point for the Griz after earning a 6-4 win versus Hana/L. O'Lideadha. UM's Alex Walker and Ivayla Mitkova got the job done on court three, helping Montana sweep doubles after defeating ISU's Arkihipov/Lang-Gould 6-4.

Freshman Haugen kept the ball rolling into singles, defeating Megan Lang-Gould in straight sets (6-1, 6-2) in position two. Haugen returned to the courts for the first time since March 5, extending her singles record to 7-6 overall and 2-1 in conference.

Oosterbaan finished shortly after Haugen, coming away with another win for the Griz on court one. The junior took down Hana Cho in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, giving Montana a 3-0 lead and setting the team up for success.

Idaho State earned its first point of the day on court three, where Bengal Lola O'Lideadha came out on top over Grizzly Dunlap. The senior Griz fell for the first time in three matches, losing in straight sets (6-4, 6-3).

Though ISU seemed to be gaining some sort of momentum, UM's Goheen shut it down on court four, defeating Sol O'Lideadha in straight sets (6-4, 7-5) to clinch the Griz's first conference win of the season.

In position five, Mitkova battled it out with Idaho State's Leah Kuruvilla, but ultimately fell in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, making the overall score 4-2.

Senior Alex Walker and freshman Luna Urso took on the last match of the day in position six. Walker took care of business, coming away with a straight-set win (6-3, 6-4) to bring the final score to 5-2.

The Griz are back in action tomorrow to face Northern Arizona at 2 p.m. The match will take place at the PEAK Racquet Club in Missoula, Mont., where admission is free for all fans and spectators.