Shorthanded Griz fall to Eagles 2-5

Friday, February 16

Missoula, Mont.

11 AM

Montana

Eastern Washington

2/16/2024 4:39:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Missing two of its top players from the lineup, the Montana women's tennis team dropped a nonconference dual to Eastern Washington 2-5 at the Peak Racquet Club on Friday afternoon.

With freshman No. 1 Kelsey Phillips out sick and all-conference junior Grace Haugen injured, the Griz relied heavily on their depth against the Eagles, who came into Missoula and picked up their first win of the season to move to 1-6. Montana, meanwhile, fell to 0-5 after its first home match of the year.

The Grizzlies fell just short of taking the opening doubles point, splitting the first two matches before going the distance in the third in a 5-7 loss that put EWU up 1-0 early on.

Forced to move up to position one for the first time this season, sophomore Hailey Murphy picked up the first win of her career on court one, beating Anait Arutiunian in three sets 6-0, 4-6, 6-2.

Grizzly Senior Maria Goheen picked up Montana's other win of the day and her first win of the season, moving up from her usual spot on court four to play No. 2 against EWU and beating Jennifer Kida in three sets 6-2, 1-6, 6-4.

UM sophomore Shivika Agrawal got her first action of the year on court six and Ivayla Mitkova also moved into the lineup for just the second time this season, giving the Grizzlies reserves good match experience in out-of-conference play.

"Shivika and Ivayla haven't played a lot of competition this year, so for them to have an opportunity to step up is really great for us as a team. It was good for everyone to move up and see and learn what they have to work on to put themselves in a better position. That's crucial as an athlete and those are great lessons learned," said head coach Steve Ascher.

"Then on the top end, it was awesome to see both Hailey and Maria stepping up, playing good opponents, getting pushed into a third set and coming out on top with some close wins.

"We've been competing well, we just need to learn what it takes to get across the finish line more often. Matches like this are helpful to gain that perspective."

Montana was in with a shot to claim the opening doubles point. Rosie Sterk, an all-conference doubles player a season ago, and Agrawal earned a wire-to-wire 6-4 win on court three that tied the round after Murphy and Mitkova fell 3-6 on court two.

On the deciding court, UM's senior pair of Goheen and Olivia Oosterbaan battled back from a 3-5 deficit to tie the set 5-5 with serve in hand, but unforced errors from the Griz gave the serve back to EWU with a 6-5 lead. The Eagles' Mathews/Foshee pair then attacked Goheen's backhand and some strong net play gave the visitors a 7-5 win in the final game to take the doubles point and go up 1-0.

Eastern Washington built on their lead in singles, with Leandra Nizetic beating Sterk in straight sets 6-1, 6-4, and Scout Mathews beating Oosterbaan in straights as well (6-4, 6-30, to go up 3-0 in the team score.

After cruising to a first set win, Murphy bounced back following a second set loss, braking Arutiunian's serve in the third set to take a 5-2 lead before winning the first match for the Grizzlies 6-0, 4-6, 6-2, and making the team score 3-1.

Goheen also rebounded from a loss in the second set after rolling in the first. The UM senior went up 5-4 in the third set playing a deep ball off the curtain that Kida returned into the net, leading to a 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 win – the second of the day for the Griz.

Montana now turns its attention to Utah State who visits Missoula on Sunday for a nonconference dual, with opening serves going up at 10 a.m. at the Peak.