Wednesday, October 18
Salt Lake City, Utah
All Day
Montana
vs
ITA Mountain Regional
Photo by: Jackson Bilawa/Utah Athletics
Murphy’s run highlights solid Grizzly outing at regional tourney
10/22/2023 8:06:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Montana's Hailey Murphy advanced to the semifinal of the back singles draw, and the round of 16 in the main doubles draw with her partner Kelsey Phillips to lead the UM women's tennis team at this year's ITA Mountain Regional tournament in Salt Lake City over the weekend.
The run highlighted a good weekend for the Griz at the premiere tournament of the fall, with wins up and down the roster for each of the six players on the traveling roster against the top competition in the west.
"The team competed at their highest level, both physically and mentally, of the fall. It was exciting to watch their discipline in tactical awareness and their concentration for long periods," said head coach Steve Ascher.
"The growth over the last six weeks is very apparent."
Usually a field of 128, this year's regional singles draw was split into an "A" draw that would advance the winner to the national tournament and a "B" draw, where a pair of Grizzlies made waves.
Murphy, a sophomore, was Montana's top performer, earning four wins to advance to the semifinal of the back singles draw over opponents from Wyoming, Colorado, Utah State, and Utah.
She opened the tournament with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Serina Abriola of Wyoming to move on to the round of 32. There she earned another upset, beating Carri Hayes from the Colorado Buffaloes in a first-set tiebreaker 7-6(5), 6-4.
Murphy then advanced to the quarterfinal with a win in the round of 16, beating Ana Chavez Sanchez of Utah State with another tiebreaker, this time in the second set, winning 6-2, 7-6(2). She picked up yet another win in the quarterfinal, beating Ana Cruz of Utah in straight sets 6-4, 6-1.
Her dream run came to an end in the semifinal, however, but she didn't go down without a fight. Wiem Boubaker of Nevada needed an extra game in both sets to get past Murphy, winning 7-5, 7-5 to advance to the final.
"Hailey's run through the singles draw was such a pleasure to see. She beat four strong opponents, made good decisions with her strategies, and really stayed engaged the whole week mentally," said Ascher.
Olivia Oosterbaan also earned two B draw wins to make the round of 16.
The UM senior beat Ana Conde Vendrell of Boise State 6-2, 6-1 on the opening day and Wyoming's Lucia Malinak 6-3, 6-0 in the round of 32. She eventually fell in the round of 16, going down BYU's Kara Wheatley 3-6, 2-6.
Maria Goheen earned a first-round win in the B draw as well, knocking off Smilia Matovic of UNLV 6-3, 6-4 before forcing a tiebreaker in a loss to Utah's Emma Kampter in the round of 32, 6-7(1), 1-6.
Freshman Kelsey Phillips and Grace Haugen were the only Grizzlies to compete in the A draw, with Phillips falling to Kendall Kovick of BYU 6-2, 6-4, and Haugen retiring injured from her match against Andrea Beltran of Denver in the opening round.
With all players competing in the main doubles draw, Montana's Murphy/Phillips pair advanced to the round of 16 with two wins over opponents from Utah and Air Force.
The sophomore/freshman team upset Kaila Barksdale and Yuhan Liu of the host Utes 8-5 in the first round. They advanced to face Nadia Kojonroj and Arianna Van Houweling in the round of 32, beating the Falcon duo 8-4.
They eventually fell to the No. 1 seed and eventual finalists Jacque Dunyon and Yujia Huang of BYU 3-8 in the round of 16.
Grace Haugen and Rosie Sterk also earned a win in the opening round of the doubles draw, beating the Li/Semenik pair of Weber State 8-4 in the round of 64. In the round of 32 they fell to Wyoming's Borodina/Zehender pair 3-8.
"Our doubles remain a strong part of our team dynamic. Hailey and Kelsey beating Utah and Air Force were two great wins. They also played well against the team from BYU. It was a chance for the whole team to learn that we can compete with anyone out there," Ascher added.
Montana will cap the fall tournament season this coming weekend, traveling to Spokane to compete in the Gonzaga Invitational Oct. 27-29.
The run highlighted a good weekend for the Griz at the premiere tournament of the fall, with wins up and down the roster for each of the six players on the traveling roster against the top competition in the west.
"The team competed at their highest level, both physically and mentally, of the fall. It was exciting to watch their discipline in tactical awareness and their concentration for long periods," said head coach Steve Ascher.
"The growth over the last six weeks is very apparent."
Usually a field of 128, this year's regional singles draw was split into an "A" draw that would advance the winner to the national tournament and a "B" draw, where a pair of Grizzlies made waves.
Murphy, a sophomore, was Montana's top performer, earning four wins to advance to the semifinal of the back singles draw over opponents from Wyoming, Colorado, Utah State, and Utah.
She opened the tournament with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Serina Abriola of Wyoming to move on to the round of 32. There she earned another upset, beating Carri Hayes from the Colorado Buffaloes in a first-set tiebreaker 7-6(5), 6-4.
Murphy then advanced to the quarterfinal with a win in the round of 16, beating Ana Chavez Sanchez of Utah State with another tiebreaker, this time in the second set, winning 6-2, 7-6(2). She picked up yet another win in the quarterfinal, beating Ana Cruz of Utah in straight sets 6-4, 6-1.
Her dream run came to an end in the semifinal, however, but she didn't go down without a fight. Wiem Boubaker of Nevada needed an extra game in both sets to get past Murphy, winning 7-5, 7-5 to advance to the final.
"Hailey's run through the singles draw was such a pleasure to see. She beat four strong opponents, made good decisions with her strategies, and really stayed engaged the whole week mentally," said Ascher.
Olivia Oosterbaan also earned two B draw wins to make the round of 16.
The UM senior beat Ana Conde Vendrell of Boise State 6-2, 6-1 on the opening day and Wyoming's Lucia Malinak 6-3, 6-0 in the round of 32. She eventually fell in the round of 16, going down BYU's Kara Wheatley 3-6, 2-6.
Maria Goheen earned a first-round win in the B draw as well, knocking off Smilia Matovic of UNLV 6-3, 6-4 before forcing a tiebreaker in a loss to Utah's Emma Kampter in the round of 32, 6-7(1), 1-6.
Freshman Kelsey Phillips and Grace Haugen were the only Grizzlies to compete in the A draw, with Phillips falling to Kendall Kovick of BYU 6-2, 6-4, and Haugen retiring injured from her match against Andrea Beltran of Denver in the opening round.
With all players competing in the main doubles draw, Montana's Murphy/Phillips pair advanced to the round of 16 with two wins over opponents from Utah and Air Force.
The sophomore/freshman team upset Kaila Barksdale and Yuhan Liu of the host Utes 8-5 in the first round. They advanced to face Nadia Kojonroj and Arianna Van Houweling in the round of 32, beating the Falcon duo 8-4.
They eventually fell to the No. 1 seed and eventual finalists Jacque Dunyon and Yujia Huang of BYU 3-8 in the round of 16.
Grace Haugen and Rosie Sterk also earned a win in the opening round of the doubles draw, beating the Li/Semenik pair of Weber State 8-4 in the round of 64. In the round of 32 they fell to Wyoming's Borodina/Zehender pair 3-8.
"Our doubles remain a strong part of our team dynamic. Hailey and Kelsey beating Utah and Air Force were two great wins. They also played well against the team from BYU. It was a chance for the whole team to learn that we can compete with anyone out there," Ascher added.
Montana will cap the fall tournament season this coming weekend, traveling to Spokane to compete in the Gonzaga Invitational Oct. 27-29.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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