Griz fall to Aggies after short turnaround time

Thursday, March 2

Davis, Calif.

3:30 PM (MT)

Montana

UC Davis

Photo by: Derek Johnson

3/2/2023 7:17:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

Taking the court less than three hours after landing in California, the Montana women's tennis team dropped its first of two duals this week, falling to UC Davis 6-1 in non-conference action at the Marya Welch Tennis Center.

Freshman Shivika Agrawal picked up the only win of the afternoon for the Griz, defeating Lauren Ko on court six 6-4, 6-4, to avoid the shut-out for Montana, which lost on courts one through five in straight sets.

Olivia Oosterbaan and Hailey Murphy also earned a doubles win on court three, but the Aggies were able to capture the opening point of the match with wins on courts one and two.

Originally scheduled to play UC Davis on Friday and Sacramento State Saturday, the Grizzlies' weekend slate was bumped up a day due to incoming rain in the capital city.

The change of plans left UM with minimal prep time before facing the Aggies following a 4 a.m. wake-up call to catch their flight.

Despite the loss, head coach Steve Ascher says any tennis against an opponent other than yourself is productive as the Griz get set to take on the Hornets Friday morning.

"I thought we competed well, but it's hard when you are up before 4 a.m. for a flight," he said.

"This was much better preparation for tomorrow, to play and learn rather than just hitting with ourselves. I think we're going to be ready to push Sac in the morning."

Following the loss to the Aggies, Montana now falls to 3-7 on the season and 0-1 in league play. The Griz now turn their attention to Sacramento State, looking for their first Big Sky Conference win of the season.

It will be another tight turnaround for UM, with opening serves against the Hornets going up at 9:30 a.m. local time.