Griz return to action in Boise at the Barb Chandler Classic

The Montana women's tennis team returns to action this weekend as it heads to Boise for the annual Barb Chandler Classic at Boise State.

A staple on the Grizzlies' fall tournament schedule, the Barb Chandler Classic gets underway Friday, Sept. 23, at BSU's Appleton Tennis Center and runs through Sunday, Sept. 25.

The Griz are one of seven teams competing this weekend in a field representing some of the best programs in the Northwest, with some familiar faces making the trip to Boise. Set to compete are Idaho, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Utah, and Weber State joining the host Broncos.

Boise State will provide a partial live stream of the action, with links available at GoGriz.com.

The Barb Chandler marks Montana's second tournament of the fall season after the Griz took a young squad to Pocatello for the Idaho State Invitational in early September.

Montana rolls out a more experienced lineup this week led by seniors Lauren Dunlap, Maria Goheen, and Olivia Oosterbaan. All-Big Sky sophomore Grace Haugen will lace them up, as will true freshmen Shivika Agrawal and Hailey Murphy, who both impressed in the season opener at Pocatello.

"We were happy with how not only we competed last week, and we're obviously still learning, but we want to go out and get after these matches. With the work we put in over the summer I think we're ready fitness-wise, and we have the physicality, so we want to push it as hard as we can, keep learning and keep growing," said head coach Steve Ascher.

"This will be a good lead-up to get ready for regionals."

The format of this year's Barb Chandler Classic is a mini-duals tournament. Each school will split its team into pairs who will compete against another pair. Each matchup will consist of a doubles match followed by two singles matches. The pair that wins two of the three matches advances to the next round. The top flight (Blue) and middle flight (Orange) will each consist of eight pairs, while a third flight (White) will consist of six.

Montana will play one more tune-up before the premiere event of the fall at the Eastern Washington Invite next weekend. The Griz then take their top lineup to the ITA Mountain Regional, Oct. 12-15 in Las Vegas.

Griz return to action in Boise at the Barb Chandler Classic

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Players Mentioned

Shivika Agrawal

Lauren Dunlap

Maria Goheen

Grace Haugen

Hailey Murphy

Olivia Oosterbaan

University of Montana Athletics