Montana netters open conference play in California

The Montana men's tennis team heads to California this weekend with two matches on the slate and a focus on opening Big Sky Conference play with a win.

The Griz are scheduled to play a nonconference dual at UC Davis on Friday at 3 p.m. (MT) before kicking off league action against Sacramento State on Saturday at 2 p.m. (MT).

This is, of course, if the weather cooperates.

With a 70 percent chance of showers in the Sacramento area on Friday and no indoor facility to fall back on, the match at UC Davis will be a fluid fixture. Should rain sideline the dual, both teams will look to reschedule on Sunday, weather permitting.

A forecasted break in the clouds Saturday means the all-important conference match against the Hornets is a go, for now.

With Montana (4-4) having already had two matches in Las Vegas canceled due to travel issues, the Griz head to the Golden State seeking to play outdoors for the first time since October.

If the match against the Aggies (7-3) goes off, it will be the first between the two programs in nearly a decade.

The highlight of the weekend, though, comes on Saturday, where two projected Big Sky tourney teams are set to clash at the Sac State Tennis Center. The Hornets (7-3, 1-0 BSC) were picked in a tie for second in the league's preseason coaches' poll with Northern Arizona, while the Griz were slotted fourth.

Montana has history on its side, however, with a 7-2 record over the Hornets in regular season play over the last decade. The Griz also won the last meeting between the two, 5-2 in Missoula, and won the last meeting in Sacramento as well, a 4-3 nail-biter all the way back in 2018.

But this year's Hornets bring a veteran lineup and one of the league's top players, while the Griz take the court with a lineup made primarily of freshmen and sophomores. Between the uncertainty of the schedule, the elements, and a talented Hornet outfit, one thing is certain. UM will have its hands full.

"I hope the weather holds because we'd really love to play the Davis match, but our main focus this weekend is Sacramento State. I think they are probably the most talented team in the conference," said head coach Jason Brown.

"So, we're going down there with nothing to lose. I'd love to get the conference schedule started on a positive note."

No live coverage of the two matches will be available.

GRIZ TRACKS: The Griz are coming off a split weekend, sweeping D-III Whitman in straight sets across the board, then falling to a strong Gonzaga outfit 7-0 in Spokane. Thanks to canceled flights to Vegas, they are the last two matches UM has played since Jan. 28 as well.

• Two Grizzlies have earned Big Sky Player of the Week honors this season. Sophomores Sam Baldwin and Guillermo Martin earned the award in the first two weeks of the year. Martin won after beating his opponent from North Dakota in straight sets on week one.

Baldwin had a huge week against Whitworth and Eastern Washington, going 4-0 on the trip and landing on ESPN's SportsCenter Top-10 with a jaw-dropping between-the-legs winner.

• Baldwin leads the team in singles wins at 5-3 on the year to date. Moritz Stoeger, the team's veteran leader as the only upperclassman in the regular lineup, has the second-best win percentage at 4-2 on the year, and is 3-1 on court three.

• The freshman/sophomore combo of George Russell and Gustav Theilgaard have been UM's top doubles pairing, now at 4-2 on court one this season.

SCOUTING THE AGGIES: UC Davis enters Friday's match at 4-3 on the year, with all four wins coming at home. The Aggies are coming off a 2-5 loss at Santa Clara on Feb. 17, but posted a big 4-3 win over Pacific the week before.

Eric Steidlmayer is in his 11th season coaching at Davis. He led the Aggies to the No. 6 seed at the Big West tournament a year ago.

LAST MEETING: The Griz haven't faced the Aggies since 2014, when UM traveled to Davis and lost 6-1 before eventually going on to win the program's first Big Sky title and a trip to the NCAA tourney. In the previous meeting between the two in 2012, the Griz earned a 4-3 win on the road.

SCOUTING THE HORNETS: Sac State has won six of its last seven matches, including a 5-2 win at Portland State in the Hornets' conference opener.

They're led by junior ace Mark Keki, the defending Big Sky Player of the Week, who sits at 5-1 in singles play this season. Keki, a 6-1 native of Hungary, was also the league's freshman of the year in 2021 and a first-team all-conference pick in singles and doubles in 2022.

While that stat is impressive, even more telling is that just two weeks ago he was beating the No. 4 player in the country, Max Basing of Stanford, 7-3, 3-3 when the Cardinal clinched the win and play was stopped.

"Without a doubt, he's one of the biggest, strongest kids in the conference. He's just as good as they get in the Big Sky," added Brown.

LAST MEETING: In what Brown calls "Possibly the best college tennis match I've ever seen," Montana beat Sac State 5-2 in Missoula a year ago. The clincher was an epic match between Keki and UM senior Ed Pudney, who all but secured the Big Sky MVP award with a gutsy 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7) win on court one seal the Griz victory.

This year's new-look Montana squad only returns two players that saw the court that day, however in Theilgaard and Stoeger, who pulled out a straight-set win over Hayden Rand (6-4, 6-1) on court five, setting up a potential rematch this week.

"We're going to need a lot of help from the bottom of our lineup against these guys and will need to compete hard on each court. We can't afford to have these guys get ahead of us on the scoreboard, so we need to keep the matches close up top and take some pressure off the guys down low." said Brown.

"And doubles is always important. I think they're the best doubles team I've seen in Big Sky for the last five years or so."

UP NEXT: Montana returns to the friendly confines of the Peak Racquet Club in Missoula for another Big Sky Conference match against Eastern Washington on March 5 at noon. The Griz will be back at the Peak a week later, playing a nonconference doubleheader against Lewis-Clark State on March 12.

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Players Mentioned

Sam Baldwin

Guillermo Martin

Ed Pudney

George Russell

Moritz Stoeger

Gustav Theilgaard

University of Montana Athletics