Griz fall to Gonzaga and Seattle to wrap-up road trip

Saturday, January 14

Spokane, Wash.

10 AM (MT)

Montana

Gonzaga

Photo by: Derek Johnson

Griz fall to Gonzaga and Seattle to wrap-up road trip

1/15/2023 2:58:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana women's tennis team went winless on its three-match road trip to Washington to open the season 0-3 after falling to Gonzaga on Saturday and Seattle University on Sunday.

The Griz picked up a win on doubles court two against Gonzaga Saturday but were overpowered in singles, losing 7-0 in straight sets across the board.

Montana then suffered its first loss to the Seattle Redhawks in modern program history on Saturday in a neutral site dual at GU's Stevens Center. The Grizzlies started strong with a win in the doubles round but lost four of six singles matches to fall 4-3.

UM finishes its season-opening trip to the Palouse 0-3 after falling to Washington State 7-0 on Friday.

"Our top two doubles teams played very strong tennis today, but we need to work to improve our singles performances. There are moments we are playing well, and then times when we need to recognize where we are in matches and push our strategic plans," said head coach Steve Ascher following the loss to Seattle.

"But to be able to play a 3-4 match this early in the season is important. It teaches people where they are at on many levels and where they will need to focus their work to improve."

Against the Zags, Lauren Dunlap and Rosie Sterk paired up on doubles court two for UM's only win of the day, beating GU's Aitken/Sloan pair 6-3. Gonzaga sealed the opening point with 6-1 wins on courts one and three to take a 1-0 team lead.

The Bulldogs carried the momentum into the singles round, winning in straight sets on all six courts for the 7-0 team victory.

In the Sunday matinee against the Redhawks, Dunlap and Sterk were strong once again in doubles, taking a 6-1 win over SU's Quintana/Elenova pair on court two.

Grace Haugen and Hailey Murphy then paired up on court one for a 6-2 win over Seattle's Kraleva/Dimova pair to clinch the opening team point for Montana.

Ivayla Mitkova extended Montana's lead early on in singles, cruising to a 6-0, 6-1 win over Shu Huang on court six to put the Griz up 2-0 overall.

The Redhawks then stormed back to take the next two matches, tying the team score at two-a-piece. Murphy lost 6-2, 6-2 against Elena Kraleva on court one to cut the UM lead, and Shivika Agrawal's comeback on court five fell short, falling 6-1, 6-4 to Jade Quintana.

Maria Goheen picked up a win over Marija Elenova in a retirement decision to put UM up 3-2, but the lead wouldn't last long.

Dunlap dropped her match on court two to make it a 3-3 team score, falling 6-4 in the first set and 6-7 (1) in a second-set tiebreaker to Lillya Dimova.

In the decider on court four, Nancy Cabanas won her first set 6-2 over Lola Tavcar, but dropped the next two 4-6, 3-6 to hand the Redhawks the 4-3 team win.

Montana's nonconference schedule remains tough, with the Griz entering a two-week training block before heading to Salt Lake to face Utah and Cincinnati on Feb 4 and 5 at the Eccles Tennis Center.