Griz fall to Vikings 5-2

Friday, April 7

Missoula, Mont.

9:30 AM

Montana

Portland State

4/7/2023 2:29:00 PM | Women's Tennis

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By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana women's tennis team dropped the first of its two home matches this weekend, falling to the fifth-place Portland State Vikings 5-2 at the Peak Racquet Club in Missoula on Friday morning.

The Griz, currently in sixth place in the conference standings, fall to 5-12 overall and 2-4 in Big Sky play. But those two UM wins – one over Idaho and one over Montana State - could prove pivotal.

The loss sets up an all-or-nothing dual against Eastern Washington on Sunday, who comes to Missoula after picking up its first win over MSU on Friday. A Griz victory over the Eagles will likely see the Grizzlies through to their first conference tournament appearance since 2015.

Rosie Sterk and Maria Goheen picked up Montana's only singles wins of the afternoon on courts five and six. Olivia Oosterbaan and Hailey Murphy paired up for a win in doubles on court three as well, but the Vikings overpowered the Griz at the top of the order for a convincing victory.

PSU, who came to Missoula with a veteran squad of all juniors, seniors, and grad transfers, improves to 9-10 and 3-2 in conference play.

Montana started behind with a loss in the doubles round. Sterk and her partner Lauren Dunlap, who hold the most doubles wins in the Big Sky, fell to 12-5 together on the year with a 3-6 loss on court one to PSU's Sanoner/Ponomareva pair.

Following a loss on two for the PSU clinch, Oosterbaan and Murphy got UM on the board in come-from-behind fashion, breaking the Viking serve to go up 5-4 before eventually going on to win in a tiebreaker 7-6 (5).

In singles, the Vikings controlled the top of the lineup with straight-set wins on each of the top four courts.

Sterk got UM's first win with a clean 6-4, 6-1 win over Emily Rees on court six for the first Grizzly point of the morning. Goheen rebounded from a first-set loss to take the second 6-1, eventually going on to win in a third-set superbreaker 6-7 (5), 6-1, 1-0 (7) for UM's second win.

Montana now turns its attention to Eastern Washington and a berth at the conference tournament in Phoenix. The Griz and Eagles get underway at 9:30 a.m. at the Peak in an Easter Sunday matinee.