Griz host EWU and Utah State in pair of weekend duals

The Montana women's tennis team will play its first home matches of the season this week when the Griz host Eastern Washington and Utah State for a round-robin trio of nonconference duals.

UM opens the homestand on Friday, taking on EWU at 11 a.m. in an out-of-conference showdown. The Grizzlies cap the weekend on Sunday against Utah State at 10 a.m., with all matches taking place at the Peak Racquet Club south of Missoula off Blue Mountain Road. The Eagles and Aggies will square off in a neutral site dual on Saturday afternoon.

Entrance to the Peak is open to the public and admission to the Griz tennis match is free. Links to live scoring can be found at GoGriz.com.

The Griz (0-4) enter the weekend coming off a pair of losses at the University of Nebraska where they fell handily to the hometown Huskers but gave North Dakota a run for its money in a 3-4 nailbiter.

Despite the winless start, Montana will have a good shot at picking up a couple wins this weekend on paper, with EWU coming to Missoula winless themselves at 0-6 on the year and picked to finish last in the preseason Big Sky poll.

Utah State also comes to town looking to jumpstart its season at 1-3, with two losses to Big Sky teams already on the record.

"Having been on the road so much this season, it's going to be great to be back home, and we're excited to have the fans come out. Then obviously, getting a chance to get after a Mountain West team like Utah State at home is going to be a lot of fun," said head coach Steve Ascher.

"Both of these teams have talented players. We saw them in the fall tournament season and they both have talented teams. So, I think the big thing for us is to be ready, be prepared, go after it, give your best effort, and then work a little bit of that home court magic."

Helping provide some magic for the Griz so far this season has been the emergence of freshman Kelsey Phillips, a highly rated prep from Minnesota that has skyrocketed to the top of the Grizzly lineup to play in the No. 1 position – a spot she doesn't take lightly.

"I'm so grateful to be playing at the top of the lineup. That's a really big deal and a really big responsibility, so I'm excited to take it on," said Phillips.

No stranger to elite-level competition, Phillips entered the spring season having played against some of the best in the nation in her age group over the holiday break.

Still just 18 years old and ranked among the top-80 juniors in the country, she qualified for the Junior Nationals tournament in Orlando in December and got a head start on her collegiate season against some of the best in the U.S.

Phillips enters the weekend at 1-3 on the season in both singles and doubles, but she's been knocking on the door in some competitive losses. In her first-ever pair of college duals, she pushed seniors from Gonzaga and Cal Poly to three sets before beating North Dakota's Sapir Sela in straight sets (6-1, 6-3) for her first win as a Grizzly last week.

She's looking to bring that momentum to her home courts at the Peak this weekend, and she likes her and her teammates' chances.

"I think the girls on our team are all super competitive and they want to win. So, I think that's really the key. If we keep up that attitude, we're supportive of each other, and we keep the energy up I think that'll be it," Phillips added.

"We are playing some really tough opponents, but it's going to be fun. I think we'll have no problem if we continue to support each other like we did last weekend."

SCOUTING THE EAGLES: Eastern Washington has been playing up so far this spring as the Eagles search for their first win at 0-6. EWU opened the year with 0-7 road losses to No. 24 Washington, Washington State, and Oregon. They also dropped a 1-6 decision to Saint Mary's and took a 1-4 loss to New Mexico. The Eagles narrowly lost their only home match of the season to date, winning the doubles but losing the top four singles matches in 3-4 loss to Seattle University.

LAST MEETING: The Griz punched their ticket to the Big Sky tourney in the regular season finale with a thrilling 4-3 win over the Eagles in Missoula last April. With a doubles win, the match was still not decided until the final court, where Maria Goheen clinched for UM with a straight-set win to break Montana's seven-year postseason drought.

SCOUTING UTAH STATE: The Aggies enter the match at 1-3 on the season with two losses to Big Sky teams. USU opened the spring dual schedule with a 2-5 loss to Idaho State at home before beating Utah Tech 5-2 in St. George. They then took a pair of home losses, falling to BYU 2-5 and Weber State 3-4. Utah State coming off a 7-14 season in 2023 with a 2-8 Mountain West finish.

LAST MEETING: Montana won the doubles point in Logan back in March of 2023, with UM rebounding from a loss on court two to win the last two sets and clinch the opening point, but the Griz would go on to lose the dual 2-5.

Olivia Oosterbaan and Ivayla Mitkova beat USU's County/Nespor pair 6-4 on court one and All-Big Sky doubles pair Rosie Sterk and Lauren Dunlap beat the Ozturk/Lavatai duo 6-4 to clinch the round and give UM the 1-0 lead.

Sterk got the Grizzlies' only win in singles, however, bouncing back from a first set tiebreaker loss to win in three over Laura De Hilario 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-3, on court four to make the final score 2-5 in favor of the Aggies.

UP NEXT: Montana returns to the road for a pair of matches on the Palouse. The Griz open the trip at Lewis-Clark State on Friday, Feb. 23, before challenging themselves at Washington State on Feb. 24.

Griz host EWU and Utah State in pair of weekend duals

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Players Mentioned

Lauren Dunlap

Maria Goheen

Ivayla Mitkova

Olivia Oosterbaan

Kelsey Phillips

Rosie Sterk

University of Montana Athletics