Montana opens spring season with pair of duals in Spokane

The Grizzly women's tennis squad opens the 2024 championship duals season in Spokane this weekend, just two days after the start of the spring semester at Montana.

The UM netters get straight to work in the new year with a pair on nonconference matches in Spokane, taking on the host Gonzaga Bulldogs on Friday at 5 p.m. (MT) followed by a neutral site dual against Cal Poly on Saturday at Noon (MT).

Both matches will be held at Gonzaga's Stevens Tennis Center with links to live scoring and streaming on each court can be found at GoGriz.com. Streaming will be available for both duals, while live scoring will only be available for the Gonzaga match.

Friday's dual Montana's first action since Oct. 29 when the Griz were back in Spokane for the Bulldog Invitational fall tournament at the Stevens Center. Despite the layover, the Grizzlies spent the remainder of the fall semester in training mode and several competed in tournaments over the winter break to return to Missoula ready to compete.

"Everyone's looks like they've come back fresh, and it looks like they put in some work off the court as well. We just started this week, but everyone looks like they're moving better and hitting the ball stronger," said head coach Steve Ascher.

"The awesome thing is we're playing this weekend then we have a couple weeks off before we take off to Nebraska. So, it will be good to get match experience and for the players to put themselves in a position to get some wins and find out how ready they are and how hungry they are. There are a lot of questions still, and this is a great opportunity to get some answers."

Montana returns with plenty of experience in 2024, led by fifth-year seniors Olivia Oosterbaan and Maria Goheen along with fourth-year senior Ivayla Mitkova. But it's the youth of the team that could rise to the top of the lineup.

Freshman Kelsey Phillips competed at a national tournament over the winter break as the No. 2 ranked player in her age bracket from the state of Minnesota.

Junior Grace Haugen, who played on the No. 1 court for most of her sophomore season at UM, won a doubles title with her partner Rosie Sterk in Boise State's fall tournament, and is expected to once again play near the top of the UM lineup.

Sophomore Hailey Murphy of Calgary should also feature heavily in the Grizzly lineup this season after taking 7 wins in singles and nine doubles wins as a freshman.

SCOUTING GONZAGA: The Zags were picked to finish seventh in the ultra-competitive West Coast Conference title race, with preseason No. 7 Pepperdine picked to win. The WCC's San Diego Toreros also landed in the preseason poll at No. 22.

Gonzaga went 13-11 in 2023 after opening their season with a 7-0 win over Montana in Spokane at the Steven Tennis Center.

GU is led by Rose Hayes, who finished the 2023 season with an 11-6 singles record and, along with her partner Kianna Oda, went 5-3 in doubles – the team's best win percentage.

The Zags opened their spring season on Jan. 14 with a cross-country trip to Washington DC to take on Georgetown in a battle of the Bulldogs. Gonzaga won the match 5-2 to start the year 1-0.

SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS: Cal Poly is coming off a historic 2023 season where the Mustangs finished the year as runners-up in the Big West Conference championship tournament with a 6-3 record in Big West play, a 14-11 overall record, and a 7-3 record in road duals.

To reach the conference title match, Cal Poly UC Davis and Cal State Northridge 4-0 each before falling to No. 1 seed Hawaii 2-4 in the final.

The tournament highlighted the Mustang's third-straight 14-win season, a program record.

Cal Poly is led by sisters Delanie and Peyton Dunkle, who advanced to the doubles quarterfinal of the ITA Northwest Regional Tournament in the fall. In singles, sophomore Alexandra Ozerets compiled a 15-6 overall record her freshman season, the most wins for the Mustangs.

GRIZ IN THE POLLS: Montana was picked to return to the conference championship tourney in 2024, coming in fifth in the annual Big Sky coaches' poll, the league announced in late December.

The Grizzlies returned to the championship tourney for the first time in nearly a decade in April of 2023 as the No. 6 seed, falling to No. 3 seed Portland State in the opening round.

For the sixth-straight season Northern Arizona was picked to win the league title.

The 2024 Big Sky championship will take place April 25-27 in Phoenix, Arizona. The top six teams in the conference standings advance to the single-elimination tournament, with the top two seeds receiving a bye into the semifinal round. The winner of the championship will receive the Big Sky's automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Women's Tennis Tournament.

2024 Big Sky Women's Tennis Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Northern Arizona (2) – 58
2. Sacramento State (4) – 57
3. Weber State (3) – 56
4. Montana State – 36
5. Montana – 31
6. Idaho State – 29
7. Idaho – 24
8. Portland State – 23
9. Eastern Washington – 10

* - First-Place Votes in Parentheses

UP NEXT: Montana travels to Pocatello, Idaho February 3 and 4 to play a pair of nonconference tune-ups at a neutral site against Colorado Mesa and George Fox.

The competition then ramps up the following weekend when the Griz travel to Lincoln for a dual against the Nebraska Cornhuskers and a neutral site dual against North Dakota.

Montana then plays its first home match of the year, hosting the Utah State Aggies on Feb. 16 at the Peak Racquet Club in Missoula.

University of Montana Athletics

Montana opens spring season with pair of duals in Spokane

Players Mentioned

Maria Goheen

Grace Haugen

Ivayla Mitkova

Hailey Murphy

Olivia Oosterbaan

Kelsey Phillips

Rosie Sterk

Related Videos