Griz roll to three 7-0 wins in weekend road trip

Saturday, January 21

Spokane, Wash.

11 AM (MT)

Montana

Whitworth

Photo by: Tommy Martino/UM Athletics

1/22/2023 6:08:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score 3

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana men's tennis team made it a clean sweep on its road trip to Spokane, going 3-0 with a pair of wins in a doubleheader at Whitworth Saturday and a nonconference win over Eastern Washington in Cheney Sunday.

The Griz didn't just win. They dominated, winning all three matches 7-0 while only losing two of 30 total sets of tennis.

Following the sweep of this week's competition, Montana moves to 3-1 on the young season, while the Pirates and Eagles each fall to 0-2.

In a weekend slate designed to get match reps for the entire roster, UM head coach Jason Brown liked what he saw from all 10 Grizzlies on the young squad as it rebounded from a tight 4-3 loss to North Dakota on week one.

"I'm super happy with the growth, from even a week ago, from all the young guys. We knew it was going to happen. This is a dedicated, driven crew. But we shook off the early season nerves, and everybody played a little bit closer to their full potential. So, I can't say enough good things," said Brown.

Montana vs. Whitworth

The Griz opened the weekend with a pair of duals at D-III Whitworth that allowed Brown to shuffle the lineup, test different doubles pairings, and get the bottom of the lineup needed experience.

In the opening dual of the weekend, UM cruised to the doubles point, winning 6-2, 6-1, and 6-2 on courts one, two, and three, respectively.

The round was highlighted by the first-ever all-Watkins pairing in a college dual match, with Junior Josh Watkins and his freshman brother Jake Watkins of Whitefish teaming up for a 6-2 win on court three that clinched the point for UM.

In singles, the Griz cruised to the team win over a game Pirates squad and a rowdy home environment, taking straight-set victories on all but one court.

Sophomore Sam Baldwin got a clean win in his debut on the No. 1 court, beating Ethan Warring 6-1, 6-2, to open the scoring for UM.

Defending Big Sky Player of the Week Guillermo Martin stayed undefeated, winning his only singles match of the weekend 6-4, 6-1 on court two.

UM freshmen Baltazar Wiger-Nordas and George Russell each got wins on courts three and four to clinch the team victory for the Griz, while each of the Wakins brothers won on courts five and six to complete the 7-0 shutout.

In the second dual of the afternoon, Montana once again swept the doubles and singles rounds.

Freshman Tom Bittner returned to action for the Griz after missing the first week with an illness, making his college dual debut on singles court one and battling to a three-set win over Nathan Tjelle 6-1, 5-7, 6-0.

The rest of the UM lineup barely skipped a beat, with no one losing more than two games in a set and the Griz blanking their opponents 6-0 in five of the 15 total sets to lead to another 7-0 team shutout.

"These matches were a big deal for Whitworth. They had signs, girlfriends, and family, and they were battling and yelling and fighting for every point. They were a little overmatched in the tennis department, but they weren't overmatched in the fight they put up," said Brown

"We got exactly what we wanted out of those matches. Everybody got reps. The whole lineup got to play multiple matches, so it was perfect."

Montana vs. Eastern Washington

Montana kept the momentum rolling into Cheney Sunday morning, picking up another 7-0 win over the Eagles in a nonconference Big Sky preview match.

Moritz Stoeger and Martin reunited on court two doubles, a place where they earned all-conference honors two years ago as freshmen before Martin's sophomore year injury. The duo looked like they were never apart either, shutting out EWU's Dillon/Pax pair 6-0 on court two.

Gustav Theilgaard and Russell clinched the opening point on court one 6-4 over Caden Kammerer and Erik Sarlvik.

Stoeger picked up his fourth overall win of the weekend to open the singles round, beating Tyler Dalos in a second-set tiebreaker 6-2, 7-6 (3) to put the Griz up 2-0 in the team tally.

Baldwin and Theilgaard then clinched the victory for UM with wins on courts three and one, respectively, with Baldwin beating Kammerer 6-2, 6-4, and Theilgaard beating Paz in straight sets as well, 7-6, 6-1.

Bittner, Russell, and sophomore Fernando Perez cleaned up with straight-set wins on courts two, six, and five, respectively, to give UM its third-straight shutout.

"Cheney is a tricky place to play, but the guys honestly gave a great, professional effort. They just took care of business. When you win doubles and first sets across the board, we didn't give them much hope today. That's the best thing you can ask for on the road," Brown added.

Montana will host Eastern Washington in the Big Sky counter match on March 5 in Missoula.

Next up: the Griz return to the road this coming weekend, traveling to Colorado's front range for a rematch against Air Force on Friday after last year's upset win for UM, followed by a neutral site dual against Abilene Christian in Colorado Springs.