Griz return to road for a shot at NAU and UNLV

The Montana men's tennis team hits the road for the final time in the regular season this weekend as it heads to the desert looking for a pair of upsets.

Fresh off a 7-0 sweep of Portland State, the Griz (10-9, 2-4 Big Sky) open their trip on Friday in Flagstaff, seeking an upset of the No. 66-ranked and conference-leading Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (18-2, 5-0 BSC).

Montana then heads to Vegas for the final nonconference match of the year with an outdoor dual against UNLV (10-8, 2-1 MWC) under the Nevada sun, a match designed to prep the Griz for outdoor tennis in the heat of Phoenix at the Big Sky tourney.

For the Griz, who head south with a roster built of four freshmen, three sophomores, and two juniors, the trip represents a litmus test against two perennially strong teams who are again on the up.

NAU has been on a tear this season, beating the ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs in Spokane, sweeping Air Force in Flagstaff 7-0, and upending UNLV in Vegas to highlight a banner nonconference slate. The 'Jacks have only lost two matches. One to No. 17-ranked Arizona, where Dominic Buzonics picked up a win on court four in a 4-1 loss to the Wildcats in Tucson. The other, a rare home loss to the No. 63-ranked Denver Pioneers.

In a make-up match from the previously postponed dual against UNLV, the Griz will also have their hands full as the Rebels enter the week on the heels of two-straight wins over Utah State and San Diego State.

"NAU has had a magical season. They've had everything come together for them. They've won the close ones, and they've got some great upset wins. I think for us, especially in Flagstaff, there's nothing but upside. We get to go down there, take a peek at them, and hopefully see them again in a few weeks at a more neutral site. We're excited for the challenge. They have a lot of new guys, and we have a whole new squad basically, so it's going to be a great matchup of two new teams in a lot of ways," said UM head coach Jason Brown.

"UNLV is the perfect match before Phoenix in super comparable conditions. We'll play outdoors against a team that would be one of the tops in the Big Sky. It's going to give us a real clear assessment of our level and a good idea of what we need to work on for the next couple of weeks before going to Phoenix."

COVERAGE: Both Northern Arizona and UNLV will provide live scoring of this week's matches, with links available on the schedule page at GoGriz.com/MTEN.

GRIZ TRACKS: Montana freshman George Russell put in a Player of the Week performance for the Griz in their two home duals last week. He went undefeated at 4-0 in both singles and doubles, helping UM to a 7-0 sweep of Portland State on Saturday.

Against Idaho, he helped Montana claim the doubles point with his partner Moritz Stoeger on court two with UM's first win of the day against the Vandals', beating the Gay/Kurata pair 6-2. He then went on to pick up the Grizzlies' only singles win of the day, beating Mario Duron 7-6 (1), 6-3 in straight sets on court five.

Against Portland State, he and Stoeger were once again dominant, beating the Brignacca/Kuszynski pair 6-1 on the way to another doubles win for UM. The Englishman then ground out a come-from-behind three-set win over PSU's Gregory Gruenig 6-7 (3), 6-4, 1-0 (7) to seal the 7-0 conference victory for the Griz.

Russell has been one of Montana's most consistent winners in his first year of college tennis, sitting at 7-2 overall and 3-0 in conference singles play. He's also been strong in doubles at 10-7 on the year and 3-3 in league play, holding an 8-6 record at No. 1 doubles.

His 7-2 winning percentage (.778) in singles is one of the top 10 best in the Big Sky. His singles record on court No. 6 of 4-1 is also the second-best percentage in the league heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.

He'll be looking to carry the momentum from a big week down to Flagstaff as the Griz search for an upset.

"I think we've just got to back ourselves, play on our terms, and play to a win. That's been the key thing we've been talking about this week is to play on our terms, play to win, leave it all out there, and believe in ourselves," said Russell.

"We're a young team, so it's only going to take time to get better and better, but we believe in ourselves every day."

IMPLICATIONS: After dispatching Portland State, Montana sits in fifth place in this week's Big Sky standings. Heading into the last two weeks of the regular season, there is still room for movement among the coveted top-six seeds that will advance to the conference tourney in Phoenix.

Should Montana knock off No. 1 seed NAU this weekend, the Griz are assured a ticket to the desert. A loss in Flagstaff would leave UM at 2-5 in league play and open to a small handful of unlikely tiebreaker scenarios that could see the Griz bumped from the tourney.

If chalk holds, the Griz are in. If Portland State picks up an upset over Idaho in Moscow, things get interesting. Buckle up for a wild finish.

UP NEXT: Montana is scheduled to play Montana State in the regular season finale on April 22 in Missoula. However, a rash of injuries and visa issues has essentially canceled the Bobcat season, having only played two duals this year. The Big Sky has ruled that if MSU is able to play the match, it will not count toward the conference standings. Per the league, a determination must be made by the Monday of match week (April 17) if the match will be canceled or played as scheduled.

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Players Mentioned

George Russell

Moritz Stoeger

University of Montana Athletics