Griz head to Lewiston for three matches

The Montana women's tennis team will look to get off the schneid this week as the Griz return to the road seeking their first team win of the season.

Following a tough start to the year with four of five matches against power-five opponents, the winless Griz travel to Lewiston, Idaho, for three tune-up duals in preparation for the start of Big Sky play.

The Grizzlies (0-5) first take on NAIA Lewis-Clark State (3-3) Friday evening to start the weekend slate. They follow that up with a doubleheader on Saturday, facing the Warriors again in the morning, followed by a neutral site dual against D-III Whitman (0-0) in the afternoon.

UM takes on LC State at 4 p.m. (MT) on Friday and 10 a.m. (MT) on Saturday. It will then cap the weekend against the Blues at 2 p.m. (MT) that afternoon. All matches will be played indoors at the Lewis-Clark Tennis Center in Lewiston.

LCSC will provide a live stream of all three of Montana's matches inside the tennis center. No live scoring will be provided, however. Links to the video stream of each match can be found on the schedule page at GoGriz.com.

For head coach Steve Ascher, the three-match weekend will provide him a chance to give valuable reps up and down the roster as he looks to solidify the top six rotation for the start of league play in a week's time.

"I think it'll be fun. We're traveling everybody and getting them involved. I'm excited about the doubles. I'd like to continue improving on that piece and pick up on some things that we did well last weekend. And then just grow as singles players. Take those things we've been practicing and really concentrate on getting those done. So yeah, a great chance for a lot of matches," said Ascher.

"I'm hoping to solidify the lineup. I think that's the big goal this week. I think everyone's been playing well. We just need to solidify the lineup and find out where we're at before we start conference. So, I think we're on the right path for that for sure."

GRIZ TRACKS: Montana freshman Hailey Murphy picked up her first win as a Grizzly last week in Salt Lake. The Canadian beat Cincinnati's Maria Santilli in straight sets on court three, 6-4, 6-3 for her first collegiate dual singles victory.

• Senior Lauren Dunlap and sophomore Rosie Sterk are leading the charge for the Griz in doubles. The pair enter the weekend 3-2 overall on court two, the team's best record.

• Montana has had only three individual wins in singles so far this season, with Murphy, Maria Goheen, and Ivayla Mitkova each getting in the win column.

• Montana has played up in the nonconference slate, taking on Washington State, Gonzaga, Seattle, Utah, and Cincinnati in a challenging string of duals to start the year.

UP NEXT: Montana travels to Pocatello on Feb. 18, taking on Idaho State in the conference opener for both teams at 1 p.m. The Bengals were picked fourth in the Big Sky's preseason coaches poll, one place ahead of the fifth-place Griz.

The match could go a long way toward determining Montana's postseason fate, with only the top six teams in the league advancing to the conference tournament in April.

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Players Mentioned

Lauren Dunlap

Maria Goheen

Ivayla Mitkova

Hailey Murphy

Rosie Sterk

University of Montana Athletics