Griz add Agrawal and Murphy for the 2022-23 season
5/31/2022 12:37:00 PM | Women's Tennis
MISSOULA, Mont. – The Montana women's tennis team brought newcomers onto its 2022-23 roster. The Chandler, Ariz. native, Shivikia Agrawal, signed with the Griz recently and the Calgary, Canada native, Hailey Murphy, decided to join the team after her visit in March.
When asking head coach Steve Ascher about the incoming recruits, his face lit up with excitement.
"Shivika plays a ton of tennis. She's played the national tournaments in Florida, National hardcourts, and National play courts as well. She has a wealth of tournament experience. She wants to get better, she wants to improve, and she wants to push, so, I think she's going to fit in great with the group as well."
Ascher was excited to add Murphy to the roster as well.
"It's fun with Haley. She connected with us because she had played with Grace Haugen. She's excited. Canada was really hard during COVID because they locked everything down, but she had the capability to go live in Orange County, Calif. So, with that, she's been training and playing. She hasn't taken much of a break. Both of these girls are hugely tennis-oriented and athletic."
Agrawal's athleticism seems to come from her background in sports. Growing up she played all the sports you can imagine - soccer, volleyball, basketball, dance, swimming, and of course, tennis. Though she played a plethora of sports, two sports caught her attention – volleyball and tennis.
So, why tennis? "Even though volleyball is a team sport, I feel like tennis can also be a team sport, especially for college tennis. I like how you're on the court by yourself. You have to think through points by yourself and you have to rely on yourself basically," said Agrawal.
The incoming Grizzly has quite the resume, additionally. Agrawal comes from Hamilton High School where she graduated in the top two percent of her class with AP scholar honors and was the most recent Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In her time at Hamilton, she was a four-year letter winner in tennis, playing in position one. She served as the team captain from 2018 through 2022, earning honors such as All-District Player of the Year (2019, 2021, 2022), Most Valuable Player (2019, 2021, 2022), and was the Kiwanis Invitational Girls Singles Champion in 2022, amongst all of her other accolades.
Agrawal chose Montana for various reasons, but Ascher was one of the top reasons.
"I really liked Coach Steve. I feel like he's a really good tennis coach. He reminds me of my tennis coach here in Arizona. I also like the pharmacy program at UM and the research opportunities I'll be getting there because pharmacy is what I'll be intending to pursue. I also really liked the campus."
Now for Murphy, tennis runs in her blood. Both her mom and aunt were national-level players, playing collegiately at the University of San Diego.
"I started playing tennis at a really young age and I kind of grew up playing with my entire family. All of my brothers and cousins were tennis players. It was in the family to play tennis and I've pretty much just been playing national, competitive-level tennis since then," said Murphy.
The Calgary, Canada native came away a champion in flight two in the Canadian Nationals during the duration of her high school career. She also was the doubles provincial champion her senior year.
Murphy's interest in Montana sparked because of upcoming sophomore Grizzly Grace Haugen. Murphy and Haugen have a connection from playing together in Canada and they continue to stay in touch to this day.
Haugen had told Murphy about her experiences at Montana, which led to Murphy getting in touch with Ascher. From there, she was able to look into UM through a more serious lens.
"After talking with the coach, looking at the school, and seeing their programs I thought, 'Oh, this sounds like a great school.' It's really close to home and the campus was beautiful," said Murphy.
The Griz are in the midst of planning their fall schedule and are gearing up for the 2022-23 season.
Players Mentioned
