Griz host Hornets ahead of weekend trip to Idaho

Montana vs Sacramento State
Tuesday, April 12, 11 a.m.
Peak Racquet Club, Missoula, Mont.
Live Scoring

Montana at Lewis-Clark State
Friday, April 15, 5 p.m. (MT)
LCSC Tennis Center
Live Scoring N/A

Montana at Idaho
Saturday, April 16, 3 p.m. (MT)
LCSC Tennis Center
Live Scoring N/A

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With the race for a Big Sky championship heating up, the Montana men's tennis team is right in the thick of it as UM returns to action this week to play three of its final four matches of the season.

It's make-or-break time for Montana if the Griz are to win the program's second regular-season championship, with duals against two of the league's hottest teams on tap over the next five days.

With the top six teams in the league each sitting at one or two conference losses, the title is still up for grabs. At 12-2 overall, 4-1 in Big Sky play, and in the heart of one of the best seasons in program history, the Griz control their own destiny but must keep up their winning ways to stay in contention.

Montana opens this week's slate with the last of its home matches, hosting the white-hot Sacramento State Hornets (13-7, 4-2 BSC) on Tuesday, April 12, at the Peak Racquet Club in Missoula, with a start time set for 11 a.m.

The Griz then head to the Gem State for a pair of matches in Lewiston, facing Lewis-Clark State (10-8, 0-0 FC) in a tune-up Friday evening before a key league dual against the Idaho Vandals (7-11. 3-2 BSC) that will also be played on the indoor courts in Lewiston.

After starting their conference schedule at 1-2 with home losses to Northern Arizona and Idaho State, the Hornets are suddenly on fire, riding a four-match win streak into Missoula.

Lewis-Clark State has seen some solid performances at the NAIA level this season, while Idaho has been up and down with a surprising win at altitude in Flagstaff over NAU and a home upset over first-place Montana State, but having also suffered a home loss to Sac State and a loss to Weber State.

With the Griz coming off their first conference loss of the season – a 4-3 nail-biter to NAU that was UM's first loss in Missoula since 2019 – and the fact that no team has won the Big Sky tourney as a third seed or below, Montana is in must-win territory.

"This is a vital week. With the parity in the league, we could finish anywhere between first and sixth. There are talented teams at the top of the table where anyone can beat anyone on any given day, and it's shown," said head coach Jason Brown.

"So, for us, it's just a matter of staying healthy and staying focused on one match at a time. Sac might be the most talented team in the league, so we can't look past them."

Admission to the Peak is free and open to the public. Links to live scoring are available at GoGriz.com.

//GRIZ TRACKS//

• The Griz enter the week in second in the Big Sky standings at 4-1. Montana State remains in first at 5-1 after losing its first conference match of the year to Idaho on Sunday in Lewiston.

• Sacramento State sits in third in the league standings at 4-2, having beaten Idaho in Lewiston on Saturday.

• Senior Oisin Shaffrey remained Montana's lone undefeated player in Big Sky singles after the NAU match, continuing his stretch of dominance in the league. The 2021 first-team All-Big Sky pick is now 5-0 in conference play this season, putting him at 18-3 over his career.

He enters the week having not lost a Big Sky singles match for three years in a streak dating back to April 6, 2019, when he was a freshman. One of those losses: Sac State's Johannes Gjerkaker.

• Fellow senior Ed Pudney has been equally dominant, improving his singles record to 10-2 this spring and moving to an impressive 21-3 this year, including the fall tournament season.

Pudney and Shaffrey have been one of Montana's strongest doubles teams this season at 9-3 in the spring and 17-6 overall on the year.

• Despite his first singles loss of the year last week, freshman Gustav Theilgaard continues to have the best winning percentage in the Big Sky at 10-1 (.909). Pudney is carrying the third-best percentage at 10-2 (.833). Pudney's percentage is the tops in the league among players on court one.

• The Griz spent seven weeks in the ITA national rankings this season, sitting as high as No. 62. It's the first time in program history UM has been listed among the top-75 programs in the country.

//SCOUTING THE HORNETS//

• The Hornets have won four straight, beating Brown in OOC play, Weber St (5-2), Eastern Washington (5-2), and Idaho (4-3) after a pair of home losses to Idaho State and NAU.

• Sac State is 13-7 overall this year and 4-2 in league play, sitting third in the Big Sky standings. Notable wins include 5-0 victories over Nevada and UC San Diego.

• The Hornets are led on the No. 1 court by sophomore Mark Keki out of Hungary, who is 15-4 overall in duals this season and 6-0 in Big Sky play. Keki earned first-team all-conference honors as a freshman in 2021 in both singles and doubles and was the first player in Sac State history to be named the league's Freshman of the Year.

• Keki and his doubles partner, fellow sophomore Mate Voros are 17-1 as a pair on court one this season. Sophomore Jan Silva and Junior Ori Maior are also 11-1 as a pair on court two.

• Head coach Kevin Kurtz is in his 16th season at SAC and fourth as the head coach. In 2020 he helped the Hornets land the ninth-best recircuiting class in the nation among mid-major institutions.

//SCOUTING THE WARRIORS//

• Lewis-Clark State is 10-8 on the year, with wins over D-III Whitworth and Whitman (both teams UM beat this season), and 7-0 losses to D-I Idaho and Seattle University.

• The Warriors are led by coach Kai Fong, the most successful tennis coach in LCSC history, now in his 34th year.

//SCOUTING THE VANDALS//

• Montana has won the last three regular-season meetings against the Vandals, dating back to 2018 where the Griz beat Idaho in the regular season but eventually lost to Idaho in the Big Sky tournament title match.

• Head coach Daniel Hangstefer is in his fourth season at Idaho, starting the year at 18-25 after leading the Vandals to the 2021 Big Sky title as the No. 1 seed out of the north, despite a 4-3 loss to Montana.

• Idaho's roster is youthful in 2022, with eight of the nine players listed as sophomores and the ninth listed as a freshman.

• Vandal sophomore Francisco Bascon has the second-best winning percentage in the league, sandwiched between Theilgaard and Pudney at .900 (9-1). Fellow sophomore Matteo Masala has the most wins for UI at 12-4 in duals this spring.

• Masala and Mario Duron, another sophomore, are both undefeated in Big Sky play at 5-0.

• The Vandals are 3-1 at home, with all of their home matches to date being played indoors at LCSC. Idaho's lone home loss was to Sac State last week (3-4).

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Players Mentioned

Ed Pudney

Oisin Shaffrey

Gustav Theilgaard

University of Montana Athletics