Friday, January 19
Spokane, Wash.
5 PM (MT)
Montana
2
at
5
Gonzaga
Photo by: UM Photo / Ridley Hudson
Griz drop pair of matches in Spokane to open season
1/20/2024 8:58:00 PM | Women's Tennis
The Montana women's tennis team dropped a pair of competitive matches in Spokane on Friday and Saturday to open the season 0-2.
The Griz lost a back-and-forth battle with the Gonzaga Bulldogs 2-5 on Friday and closed the road trip with a 6-1 loss to Cal Poly in a neutral site dual at GU's Stevens Tennis Center.
Montana won a pair of singles matches against Gonzaga and it took three sets to decide the winner on the final two courts as the Griz fell in a nailbiter. Against Mustangs Montana pushed four of the six singles matches to a third set but couldn't seal the deal, coming away with just one victory.
Sophomore Hailey Murphy was the star for the Grizzlies over the weekend going 2-0 in singles on court two – the only Grizzly to pick up a pair of wins.
"Gonzaga was just a heck of a college tennis match. We battled and pushed them to the limit. Then we had another hard-fought battle against Cal Poly. We found ourselves down early across the board in singles but I'm proud of how the team responded to the challenge. In the top five singles matches we were able to battle back and win a ton of second sets to push matches to the brink," said head coach Steve Ascher.
"It was great to see how much will and heart the team showed this weekend. This will be an exciting team for the fans to see next month."
In the first match of the weekend Gonzaga opened with a 1-0 team lead after sweeping Montana in the doubles round. The Griz pressured the Zags on court two with Rosie Sterk and Grace Haugen forcing the Aitken/Nelson pair to an extra point but fell 5-7.
Meanwhile on court one, freshman Kelsey Phillips and Murphy pushed Gonzaga's Robertson/Oda pair to a tiebreaker before falling 6-7 (4) and giving the Zags the opening point.
In singles, Murphy got the Griz on the board first with a straight set win on court two. The Canadian cruised past Kianna Oda 6-2, 6-3 to tie the overall team score 1-1 in the early going.
Gonzaga then reclaimed the lead briefly when Lia Espinal beat Sterk 6-3, 6-3 on court six, but the Griz would bounce right back.
Olivia Oosterbaan won a tiebreaker in the second set on court five to take another win for Montana to tie the team score 2-2. The senior breezed passed Caroline Wernli 6-3 in the first set and battled to a 7-6 (5) win in the second for UM's second singles win of the day.
The Zags retook the team lead when Maria Goheen dropped her match in straight sets 4-6, 3-6 to Ella Nielson, leaving Montana with two must-win matches on courts one, three, and four if they were to escape Spokane with an upset, trailing 3-2.
On court three Haugen took a win in the second set to put pressure on Gonzaga, but her opponent Tiegan Aitken rebounded for a win in the third to win the match 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 to clinch the team victory for GU with their fourth team win.
On the No. 1 court, Phillips had built an early lead, winning her first set 6-3 over Emily Robinson. The Grizzly freshman was close to clinching the win in her first college tennis dual but dropped the second set in a tiebreaker 6-7 (1) to tie the match a set each. Phillips again pushed for the win in the third, eventually falling short 5-7, giving the Zags the 5-2 team win.
Against Cal Poly, Montana once again started from behind with a loss in the doubles round that put the Mustangs up 1-0 early.
Sterk struggled on court six for the Griz, getting shutout by Alexandra Ozerets 6-0 6-0 to put Poly up 2-0 on the team scoreboard. The Mustangs extended their lead when Oosterbaan lost in straight sets on court five 6-0, 7-5 to go up 3-0 and made UM's comeback hopes slim.
The Grizzlies would respond, however, winning all four second sets on all four remaining courts to give UM a chance at a comeback for the ages.
But the comeback effort officially fell short on court one where Phillips was taken down in the third set by Delanie Dunkle (6-2, 5-7, 6-3) to clinch the overall team win for Cal Poly.
After the result was already in hand, Murphy picked up Montana's only win with a come-from-behind win on court two. After dropping the first set to Melissa LaMette, Murphy roared back to win 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
Montana now prepares to return to the road in two weeks for a pair of neutral site duals against Colorado Mesa and George Fox in Pocatello, Idaho on Feb. 3 and 4.
The Griz lost a back-and-forth battle with the Gonzaga Bulldogs 2-5 on Friday and closed the road trip with a 6-1 loss to Cal Poly in a neutral site dual at GU's Stevens Tennis Center.
Montana won a pair of singles matches against Gonzaga and it took three sets to decide the winner on the final two courts as the Griz fell in a nailbiter. Against Mustangs Montana pushed four of the six singles matches to a third set but couldn't seal the deal, coming away with just one victory.
Sophomore Hailey Murphy was the star for the Grizzlies over the weekend going 2-0 in singles on court two – the only Grizzly to pick up a pair of wins.
"Gonzaga was just a heck of a college tennis match. We battled and pushed them to the limit. Then we had another hard-fought battle against Cal Poly. We found ourselves down early across the board in singles but I'm proud of how the team responded to the challenge. In the top five singles matches we were able to battle back and win a ton of second sets to push matches to the brink," said head coach Steve Ascher.
"It was great to see how much will and heart the team showed this weekend. This will be an exciting team for the fans to see next month."
In the first match of the weekend Gonzaga opened with a 1-0 team lead after sweeping Montana in the doubles round. The Griz pressured the Zags on court two with Rosie Sterk and Grace Haugen forcing the Aitken/Nelson pair to an extra point but fell 5-7.
Meanwhile on court one, freshman Kelsey Phillips and Murphy pushed Gonzaga's Robertson/Oda pair to a tiebreaker before falling 6-7 (4) and giving the Zags the opening point.
In singles, Murphy got the Griz on the board first with a straight set win on court two. The Canadian cruised past Kianna Oda 6-2, 6-3 to tie the overall team score 1-1 in the early going.
Gonzaga then reclaimed the lead briefly when Lia Espinal beat Sterk 6-3, 6-3 on court six, but the Griz would bounce right back.
Olivia Oosterbaan won a tiebreaker in the second set on court five to take another win for Montana to tie the team score 2-2. The senior breezed passed Caroline Wernli 6-3 in the first set and battled to a 7-6 (5) win in the second for UM's second singles win of the day.
The Zags retook the team lead when Maria Goheen dropped her match in straight sets 4-6, 3-6 to Ella Nielson, leaving Montana with two must-win matches on courts one, three, and four if they were to escape Spokane with an upset, trailing 3-2.
On court three Haugen took a win in the second set to put pressure on Gonzaga, but her opponent Tiegan Aitken rebounded for a win in the third to win the match 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 to clinch the team victory for GU with their fourth team win.
On the No. 1 court, Phillips had built an early lead, winning her first set 6-3 over Emily Robinson. The Grizzly freshman was close to clinching the win in her first college tennis dual but dropped the second set in a tiebreaker 6-7 (1) to tie the match a set each. Phillips again pushed for the win in the third, eventually falling short 5-7, giving the Zags the 5-2 team win.
Against Cal Poly, Montana once again started from behind with a loss in the doubles round that put the Mustangs up 1-0 early.
Sterk struggled on court six for the Griz, getting shutout by Alexandra Ozerets 6-0 6-0 to put Poly up 2-0 on the team scoreboard. The Mustangs extended their lead when Oosterbaan lost in straight sets on court five 6-0, 7-5 to go up 3-0 and made UM's comeback hopes slim.
The Grizzlies would respond, however, winning all four second sets on all four remaining courts to give UM a chance at a comeback for the ages.
But the comeback effort officially fell short on court one where Phillips was taken down in the third set by Delanie Dunkle (6-2, 5-7, 6-3) to clinch the overall team win for Cal Poly.
After the result was already in hand, Murphy picked up Montana's only win with a come-from-behind win on court two. After dropping the first set to Melissa LaMette, Murphy roared back to win 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
Montana now prepares to return to the road in two weeks for a pair of neutral site duals against Colorado Mesa and George Fox in Pocatello, Idaho on Feb. 3 and 4.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2,1
#1 Singles Match
123
665
ROBERTSON, Emily / 0 [GON]
377
#2 Singles Match
12
66
ODA, Kianna / 0 [GON]
23
#3 Singles Match
123
265
AITKEN, Tiegan / 0 [GON]
647
#4 Singles Match
12
43
NIELSON, Ella / 0 [GON]
66
#5 Singles Match
12
67
WERNLI, Caroline / 0 [GON]
36
#6 Singles Match
12
33
ESPINAL, Lia / 0 [GON]
66
Order of Finish:
2,6,5,4,3,1
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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