Griz netters to open conference play at ISU

Coming off a momentum-building sweep of three-straight wins, the Montana women's tennis team opens Big Sky Conference play this weekend, traveling to Pocatello to take on Idaho State.

In the league opener for both squads, the Griz (3-5) and the Bengals (4-2) get underway at 1 p.m. in Reed Gym on Saturday afternoon. No live coverage of the match will be provided by ISU.

Despite having nearly two months left to play on the schedule, the match carries heavy postseason implications for both programs.

The Griz were picked fifth and the Bengals fourth in the league's preseason poll in January. With only the top six teams in the league advancing to the conference tournament in Phoenix, a loss in this match leaves either team with little room for error.

For Montana, the match is also the start of a tough road test in conference play, with the Griz traveling to face all four of the teams ranked above them in the preseason poll.

The Grizzlies are on the uptick as they head south, however, taking three-straight convincing wins last week over LC-State and Whitman last week. They will also have history on their side.

Montana is 15-4 against the Bengals in the last 20 years, with the Griz winning the last three meetings. But in Montana's last trip to Reed Gym, it was the Bengals who came out on top, winning 4-3 in a 2018 nail-biter.

"They are fighters. The Bengals do a good job of competing, and they're consistent, so it will be good to start conference play against them," said head coach Steve Ascher.

"We just need to be ready to roll and play like we've been playing. I think we've stepped up and are learning to settle in and raise our game. Now we need to embrace the environment and the pressure because we've been playing really well."

GRIZ TRACKS: Montana freshman Hailey Murphy is coming off a Big Sky Player of the Week nomination-worthy performance in last week's triple header. The native of Calgary shut out the No. 30 ranked player in D-III tennis this week and went undefeated in singles to help lead the Griz to a 3-0 weekend.

Playing one match on courts three and two in the second position, Murphy won all three of her singles matches in straight sets against Lewis-Clark State and Whitman over the weekend. She also went 2-1 in doubles with her partner Shivika Agrawal.

At 4-3 in singles, Murphy is enjoying a hot start to her freshman year and has already seen success in Pocatello. In her first-ever collegiate fall tourney at ISU in September, she made the deepest run of any Grizzly in the brackets at the Bengal Invite, advancing to the title match of the Black singles draw with wins over players from Montana State and Utah.

• The senior/sophomore pair of Lauren Dunlap and Rosie Sterk is playing the team's best doubles at the moment, entering the weekend with a 6-2 record together with wins over teams from Gonzaga and Utah.

• Senior Maria Goheen enters the week with the team's best singles win percentage at 4-2 on the year, riding a streak of four-straight victories.

SCOUTING THE BENGALS: Idaho State enters Saturday's match as winners of four straight. The Bengals picked up a huge win on Feb. 4, taking down Utah State 6-1 at Reed Gym in Pocatello.

ISU has won three-straight doubles rounds and has only lost one singles match in the last three duals.

UP NEXT: Montana heads for California for a pair of matches March 3-4. The Griz face UC Davis in a nonconference match before resuming league play at Sacramento State the following day.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: The Griz play their home opener on Saturday, March 11, in a crucial Brawl of the Wild match against Montana State at the Peak in Missoula, with serves going up at noon.

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Players Mentioned

Shivika Agrawal

Lauren Dunlap

Maria Goheen

Hailey Murphy

Rosie Sterk

University of Montana Athletics