Griz fall to Idaho in Big Sky quarterfinal

Thursday, April 27

Phoenix, Ariz.

9 AM (MT)

Montana

Idaho

4/27/2023 4:03:00 PM | Men's Tennis

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By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana men's tennis team's season came to a close in the quarterfinal round of the Big Sky Conference tournament in Phoenix Thursday with a 4-0 loss to the defending league champion Idaho Vandals.

The Griz picked up one win in the doubles round and sent three of the six singles matches to a third set, but the young UM squad was unable to overcome the senior-heavy Vandal squad in the dual played to clinch at the Phoenix Tennis Center.

Montana finishes its rebuilding year at 10-12 overall and 2-5 in league play, just the team's third losing season in the last 15 years.

As the highest remaining seed in the tourney following the quarterfinal round, No. 3 Idaho now advances on to face No. 2 Sacramento State in the semifinal. No. 5 Idaho State upset No. 4 Weber State in the other quarterfinal and will now play No. 1 Northern Arizona in the other semifinal.

"I think it literally just came down to experience today. Idaho has been there, done that, and they played like it," said head coach Jason Brown.

"I thought we competed really hard, and I thought everybody gave their best effort. We just weren't good enough on the court today, and they were better than us."

When Montana and Idaho faced off in the regular season, it was the Griz who got the better of the Vandals in the opening doubles round to take an early 1-0 lead in Missoula.

However, Idaho reversed those fortunes in Phoenix, taking 6-3 wins on courts one and three to take the team lead heading into singles.

Montana's German duo of Moritz Stoeger and Tom Bittner picked up the only win for the Griz on court two, beating Idaho's Gay/Kurata pair handily 6-2 in the first finish of the round to put UM up early.

In singles, Montana's sophomore No. 1 Gustav Theilgaard was no match for Idaho senior and former Big Sky MVP Francisco Bascon, falling to the Vandal ace in straight sets 6-2, 6-2, in the top flight to put the Griz down 2-0.

Idaho then extended its team lead to 3-0 with a win on court six where Guillermo Martin dropped a straight-setter to Mario Duron 6-2, 6-4.

The Vandals then clinched the dual on court four where Stoeger couldn't hold his early lead, falling to Taiyo Kurata in three sets 6-2, 1-6, 3-6.

Grizzlies Fernando Perez, Tom Bittner, and Baltazar Wiger-Nordas each earned set wins on their respective courts but were unable to finish their matches and get the Griz on the board when the dual was clinched for Idaho at 4-0.

Montana looks to return one of the most experienced teams in the conference next season, despite the youth. A total of seven underclassmen (four freshmen and three sophomores) earned valuable reps this season and are expected to return in the fall.

"I'm really excited about returning this entire team. Hopefully, that was the only Big Sky tournament match this team ever plays as an underdog. Hopefully, we're leading from the front next year," Brown added.

"The bones of it are there. I think I need to do a little bit better job of raising expectations to continue what we've built with this program. But across the board, the guys didn't think this was a satisfactory season. We're pretty disappointed in letting a lot of close matches go."