Griz fall to Rebels in Big Sky tourney warm-up

Saturday, April 15

Las Vegas, Nev.

1 PM (MT)

Montana

UNLV

The University of Montana men’s tennis team plays against Eastern Washington at PEAK Racquet Club in Missoula on Sunday, March 5, 2023.

Photo by: Ryan Brennecke/UM Athletics

4/15/2023 6:24:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score PDF Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

Playing just its second outdoor match of the year, the Montana men's tennis team gave UNLV all it could handle in a 5-2 loss under the desert sun at the Fertitta Tennis Center in Las Vegas.

The Griz won the doubles point for the fifth time in seven matches and pushed the Rebels in singles, sending two matches to a third set and four sets going to a tiebreaker.

Unfortunately for UM, the Griz picked up a win in just one of those tiebreakers and dropped both the three-set matches as the Rebels rebounded from a doubles loss to win 5-2.

On UNLV's senior day, UM freshman Baltazar Wiger-Nordas got the only win for the Griz to go 2-0 on the weekend.

Montana falls to 10-11 overall, while UNLV improves to 12-8 on the season. But UM's last nonconference match of the year will have no effect on Montana's standing on the Big Sky table, with the Griz likely to punch their ticket to Arizona for the conference tourney.

"I couldn't have asked for better prep for Phoenix with these conditions, and UNLV would be one of the best teams in the Big Sky. So, I was really happy with the professionalism and the fight today. We had plenty of chances to win the match, just didn't get through in some of the close spots," said head coach Jason Brown.

Montana once again started the match with a 1-0 advantage after running out to a win in the doubles round.

Spaniards Guillermo Martin and Fernando Perez picked up the first win, beating UNLV's Verboven/Dabic pair on court one 6-2. Tom Bittner and Gustav Theilgaard clinched the point soon after with another 6-2 win on court three to give the Griz the early lead.

"Our guys were just dominant against a really good number one UNLV team. Team Spain (Martin and Perez) absolutely put it to them. It was fantastic. Our doubles has completely turned around from early season and now looks like a strength," added Brown.

In singles, Theilgaard dropped a tiebreaker in his first set before falling 6-7 (3), 2-6 to Maxim Verboven on court one to tie the team score at one.

Wiger-Nordas then put the Griz back in front 2-1 on court six, beating Thomas Navarro 6-1, 7-5, for his sixth win in seven matches.

Moritz Stoeger took an early lead on court one but dropped his second and third sets, falling to Aaron Bailey 6-2, 1-6, 3-6 to tie the match at two.

UNLV then closed out the win with wins on court four, where Bittner lost a narrow one 5-7, 5-7, court two, where Perez lost two tiebreakers, and finally court five, where Martin dropped a three-setter to make it 5-2 in favor of the Rebels.

UP NEXT: Montana now must wait until Monday to see if Montana State will declare itself able to play its match in Missoula, scheduled for next Saturday. With the Bobcats having not played since January, the dual is unlikely to be played.