Goheen named Big Sky Player of the Week

After helping lead the Montana women's tennis team to its first win over Idaho since 2014, senior Maria Goheen was named Big Sky Women's Tennis Player of the Week, the league announced Wednesday.

Goheen and her partner Grace Haugen clinched the doubles point for Montana in a thrilling tiebreaker (7-6 (9)) that saw several lead changes and was eventually won for the Griz on a Goheen return.

In singles, Goheen, a senior from Aurora, Ill., also dispatched the Vandals' Selin Sepken in straight sets (6-3, 6-2) to put UM up 3-1, eventually leading to a Grizzly clinch from Shivika Agrawal.

It's the first player of the week honor of Goheen's career.

"I'm excited for Maria to receive this honor," said head coach Steve Ascher.

"She stepped up under pressure during her and Grace's doubles match. They fought off a couple match points on the way to earning the win and the team doubles point. Then she just jumped out quick on her opponent and found ways to keep winning the big points on her way to a solid win."

TALK. ABOUT. A. BATTLE. 😤

Grace and Maria win the tie-breaker to clinch the doubles point for the Griz!

Singles 🔜 pic.twitter.com/P79QsstBuW
— Montana Griz Women's Tennis (@MontanaGrizWTEN) March 26, 2023

In the doubles round against Idaho, Goheen and Haugen were the last court standing, and found themselves trailing 5-4 with the all-important opening point riding on the outcome of their match.

Haugen's big serve then helped tie the match 5-5 before the pair broke Idaho's serve to take a 6-5 lead. But the Grizzly duo then suffered a double fault on match point to send the set to a tiebreaker at 6-6.

Idaho then jumped out to a quick 4-2 lead in the tiebreaker, but the UM duo clawed back and cut the Vandal lead to 5-4.

With Goheen on serve, the Griz took the lead for the first time at 6-5 with two-straight points, but Idaho was right there again to take advantage of UM errors and hold serve to retake the lead, 7-6, and it was still anyone's point.

After more back-and-forth, it was Haugen who used her serve to pick up two-straight points before Goheen sealed the win 11-9 with a blistering backhand in the breaker, giving the Griz the momentum heading into singles.

With mojo in hand, Goheen blew past Sepken in quick straight sets (6-3, 6-2) to put the Griz one win away from clinching en route to the 5-2 team victory.

Goheen and the Griz now return to the road for the final time in the regular season this week. The Griz will have their hands full as UM heads south to take on the No. 67 NAU Lumberjacks at altitude in Flagstaff on Friday.

The team then returns home for the final weekend of conference play before the Big Sky tournament, looking to book its ticket to Phoenix with duals against Portland State and Eastern Washington on April 7 and 9.

Gallery: (3-26-2023) WTEN:: vs Idaho

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Shivika Agrawal

Maria Goheen

Grace Haugen

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