Haugen battles to round of 16 to lead Griz at Mountain Regional

Thursday, October 17

Las Cruces, N.M.

All Day

Montana

ITA Mountain Regional

Haugen battles to round of 16 to lead Griz at Mountain Regional

10/21/2024 4:22:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Complete Results

By: Montana Sports Information

Grizzly senior Grace Haugen took a pair of upset wins and was a tiebreaker shy of punching her ticket to quarterfinal round of the main singles draw to lead Montana at the ITA Mountain Regional Tournament in Las Cruces, New Mexico, over the weekend.

Haugen was the only player from the Big Sky Conference to advance to the round of 16, taking down opponents from Colorado and UNLV in the first two rounds before falling to four-seed Andrea Beltran of Denver in a three-set thriller.

Fellow Grizzly senior Rosie Sterk and sophomore newcomer Piper Freeman also picked up wins for Montana in the opening round of the qualifying singles draw.

UM was one of 21 teams participating in Las Cruces, alongside Air Force, Boise State, BYU, Colorado, Colorado State, Denver, Idaho, Idaho State, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, New Mexico State, UNLV, Utah, Utah State, Utah Tech, UTEP, Weber State, Wyoming.

"Grace had an incredible run to the round of 16," said head coach Steve Ascher.

"Overall, I'm very proud of how we competed and were able to go up against the best teams in our region."

To advance to the third round, Haugen first took out Colorado's Ema Bubalo in a come-from-behind three-set thriller. Bubalo jumped out to a 6-4 win in the first set, but Haugen powered back in the second to win 6-1 and kept her foot on the gas for a 4-6, 6-1 6-4 victory to advance.

She picked up her second win in the round of 32, defeating UNLV senior Coco Zhao in straight sets 7-5, 6-2.

"She came through a hard fought three set match over Colorado in the first round that lasted over three hours, really showing mental fortitude that would continue to be on display the whole tournament," added Ascher.

Known for her grit on the court, Haugen endured another three-set marathon in the third round against Beltran. The opening set went the distance to a tiebreaker, and then went even further, with the DU senior pulling out a 7-6 (14) win.

Haugen then punched back and tied the match with a 6-3 win in the second set to send it to a deciding third. There the Grizzly fell just short, with the DU senior pulling away for a 7-6 (14), 3-6, 6-4 win, and eventually moving on to the title match.

"That round of 16 match was an incredible display of college tennis. It lasted three hours and 15 minutes, had a tiebreak that was decided 16-14, and had two players competing in a chess match that went down to the wire," said Ascher.

"Grace competed with incredible tenacity, was able to have great composure over a tricky opponent mentally, and tactically showed discipline and aggression."

Haugen is no stranger to success at the Mountain Regional, having advanced to the doubles round of 16 in the fall of 2021.

Other highlights for Montana include wins for Sterk and Freeman over opponents from UNLV and Boise State, respectively, in the qualifying singles draw. Freeman also earned two more wins in the consolation rounds over opponents from Idaho State and BYU to go 3-1 in singles over the weekend.

"Piper and Rosie were able to gain a lot of experience in the event. They won some good matches, played well, and will utilize the experience to train and push themselves over the next couple months before the spring season," said Ascher.

Montana now prepares to cap its fall tournament season in Spokane where the Grizzlies will compete in Gonzaga's Fall Invite Oct. 24-27.

ITA MOUTAIN REGIONAL – MONTANA RESULTS

Main Draw Singles
Rd of 64 - Grace Haugen def Ema Bubalo (CU-Boulder) 4-6,6-1,6-4
Rd of 32 - Grace Haugen def Coco Zhao (UNLV) 7-5,6-2
Rd of 16 - Andrea Beltran (Denver) def Grace Haugen 7-6(16),3-6,6-4

Qualifying Singles Draw
Rd of 64
Rosie Sterk def Sofia Sokolvak (UNLV) 6-2,6-2
Piper Freeman def Jessica Hill (Weber State) 6-4,6-4

Rd of 32
Bhakti Shaw (Boise State) def Piper Freeman 6-4,2-6,6-1
Kennedy Robinson (Nevada) def Rosie Sterk 6-3,6-2

Consolation Draw Singles
Piper Freeman def Stefanya Shalakhova (Idaho State) 6-4,6-4
Piper Freeman def Hibi Heni (BYU) 6-0,6-4
Rosie Sterk def Nadie Nemeth (NMSU) 3-3 retired
Hanna Koprowska (Idaho) def Rosie Sterk 6-3,6-4

Main Draw Doubles
Rd of 32
Becirovic/Cinkova (Denver) def Freeman/Phillips 8-2
Ceinos/Young (Wyoming) def Sterk/Haugen 8-5

Consolation Draw Doubles
Weekley/Zhadzinskaya (Colorado State) def Freeman/Phillips 6-3