Thursday, March 7
Missoula, Mont.
11 AM
Montana
3
vs
4
New Mexico
Photo by: Coral Scoles-Coburn/University of Montana
Lobos stay undefeated with narrow win over Griz
3/7/2024 5:56:00 PM | Women's Tennis
The Montana women's tennis team gave the undefeated and nationally ranked New Mexico Lobos all they could handle in a nonconference dual at the Peak Racquet Club in Missoula on Thursday, but an upset was not in the cards.
The Griz were a break away from winning the doubles point and won two of the first three singles matches at the top of the lineup to tie the score 2-2.
But the Lobos would come back with wins on courts four and five to clinch the match at 4-2, eventually winning 4-3 after Rosie Sterk took the final match of the day for the Griz.
New Mexico, who came to Missoula ranked No. 75 in the nation just a week ago, stayed perfect on the year at 10-0, while the Griz slid to 2-9 overall and stayed at 1-0 in Big Sky play.
It was another nailbiter for the Griz, who are now 1-3 in matches that have come down to a 4-3 finish after pulling out the one-point road win at Portland State last week.
"We keep putting ourselves in a good position to win matches, and I think we did what we needed to do today. It would have been great to come out the other end of that one a winner, but we can take some positives and take a couple of learning lessons from it," said head coach Steve Ascher.
"We're definitely being stingier and not giving away as many errors, and then we're stepping up a little bit more when there are opportunities. I think our shot recognition within the game is improving dramatically, we've just got to find another gear and read our opponents a little better when they're being aggressive or passive, and then pull those levers a little bit."
Montana started the match on the offensive, getting the jump on New Mexico in doubles when Grace Haugen and Rosie Sterk beat UNM's O'Connor/Vandepputte pair 6-2 on court three to give UM the early lead. It was another impressive outing for the pair whose run of 11-straight games came to an end late in the set, having beaten Portland State 6-0 last week then building a 5-0 lead against the Lobos before the streak came to an end.
After UNM bounced back with a win on court one, it was the Grizzly senior pair of Maria Goheen and Olivia Oosterbaan who had the opportunity to win the opening point for the Griz on court two. But the Lobo's Huang/Sodre duo kept one step ahead of the Grizzly pair, eventually winning 6-4 and clinching the doubles point to give the visitors a 1-0 team lead.
Montana put the pressure on again in singles, winning two of the first three matches to tie the dual 2-2 and send it down to the wire.
Recently back from injury, Grace Haugen built a 4-1 lead in her first set on court three. But UNM's Maud Vandeputte made what proved to be the winning adjustments and rattled off eight-straight games to beat Haugen 6-4, 6-0, giving the Lobos a 2-0 team lead.
That lead didn't last long, however, with the Griz taking two-straight wins at the top of the lineup in straight sets.
Freshman Kelsey Phillips got a breakthrough win on court two for UM's first victory, beating Kathereine Jhang 6-2, 6-4 to cut the Lobo lead in half.
Haley Murphy then improved to 8-3 on the season and cemented herself as one of the hottest players in the region beating UNM No. 1 Sarah O'Connor 6-4, 6-2, for the second Grizzly win, tying the dual 2-2.
Then all eyes in the Peak turned to Goheen on court four who had worked her way to a 7-5 win in the first set over Hoppe, putting the Griz within a set of taking a lead that would have been the decider.
The Lobo senior bounced back to claim the second set however, putting the match into a third set – the only match of the day to go the distance.
In the final set, Goheen built a 4-3 lead, but Hoppe then broke the Grizzly serve to take a 5-4 lead and all the momentum in the match, eventually going on to beat Goheen 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, to put the visitors up 3-2.
"Maria came up with some great volleys and played some really good passing shots and the girl (Hoppe) hit some great volleys off her shoestrings. I think the girl just came forward a little bit more and initiated, and Maria just needed to push her back. She was trying but it just didn't work out," said Ascher.
Soon after, New Mexico clinched the win on court five when Oosterbaan got swept in straight sets by Bente Vandeputte 6-4, 6-0 for the Lobos' fourth and final win.
The Griz finished on a high note, however, when Sterk got a confidence-boosting win on court six. The UM junior won her first set in a tiebreaker and rode the momentum to a straight set win over Maria Sodre 7-6 (2), 6-4, to make the final score 4-3.
Montana now returns to Big Sky Conference play with a crucial road trip west to take on Eastern Washington and Idaho on March 15 and 17.
The Griz were a break away from winning the doubles point and won two of the first three singles matches at the top of the lineup to tie the score 2-2.
But the Lobos would come back with wins on courts four and five to clinch the match at 4-2, eventually winning 4-3 after Rosie Sterk took the final match of the day for the Griz.
New Mexico, who came to Missoula ranked No. 75 in the nation just a week ago, stayed perfect on the year at 10-0, while the Griz slid to 2-9 overall and stayed at 1-0 in Big Sky play.
It was another nailbiter for the Griz, who are now 1-3 in matches that have come down to a 4-3 finish after pulling out the one-point road win at Portland State last week.
"We keep putting ourselves in a good position to win matches, and I think we did what we needed to do today. It would have been great to come out the other end of that one a winner, but we can take some positives and take a couple of learning lessons from it," said head coach Steve Ascher.
"We're definitely being stingier and not giving away as many errors, and then we're stepping up a little bit more when there are opportunities. I think our shot recognition within the game is improving dramatically, we've just got to find another gear and read our opponents a little better when they're being aggressive or passive, and then pull those levers a little bit."
Montana started the match on the offensive, getting the jump on New Mexico in doubles when Grace Haugen and Rosie Sterk beat UNM's O'Connor/Vandepputte pair 6-2 on court three to give UM the early lead. It was another impressive outing for the pair whose run of 11-straight games came to an end late in the set, having beaten Portland State 6-0 last week then building a 5-0 lead against the Lobos before the streak came to an end.
After UNM bounced back with a win on court one, it was the Grizzly senior pair of Maria Goheen and Olivia Oosterbaan who had the opportunity to win the opening point for the Griz on court two. But the Lobo's Huang/Sodre duo kept one step ahead of the Grizzly pair, eventually winning 6-4 and clinching the doubles point to give the visitors a 1-0 team lead.
Montana put the pressure on again in singles, winning two of the first three matches to tie the dual 2-2 and send it down to the wire.
Recently back from injury, Grace Haugen built a 4-1 lead in her first set on court three. But UNM's Maud Vandeputte made what proved to be the winning adjustments and rattled off eight-straight games to beat Haugen 6-4, 6-0, giving the Lobos a 2-0 team lead.
That lead didn't last long, however, with the Griz taking two-straight wins at the top of the lineup in straight sets.
Freshman Kelsey Phillips got a breakthrough win on court two for UM's first victory, beating Kathereine Jhang 6-2, 6-4 to cut the Lobo lead in half.
Haley Murphy then improved to 8-3 on the season and cemented herself as one of the hottest players in the region beating UNM No. 1 Sarah O'Connor 6-4, 6-2, for the second Grizzly win, tying the dual 2-2.
Then all eyes in the Peak turned to Goheen on court four who had worked her way to a 7-5 win in the first set over Hoppe, putting the Griz within a set of taking a lead that would have been the decider.
The Lobo senior bounced back to claim the second set however, putting the match into a third set – the only match of the day to go the distance.
In the final set, Goheen built a 4-3 lead, but Hoppe then broke the Grizzly serve to take a 5-4 lead and all the momentum in the match, eventually going on to beat Goheen 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, to put the visitors up 3-2.
"Maria came up with some great volleys and played some really good passing shots and the girl (Hoppe) hit some great volleys off her shoestrings. I think the girl just came forward a little bit more and initiated, and Maria just needed to push her back. She was trying but it just didn't work out," said Ascher.
Soon after, New Mexico clinched the win on court five when Oosterbaan got swept in straight sets by Bente Vandeputte 6-4, 6-0 for the Lobos' fourth and final win.
The Griz finished on a high note, however, when Sterk got a confidence-boosting win on court six. The UM junior won her first set in a tiebreaker and rode the momentum to a straight set win over Maria Sodre 7-6 (2), 6-4, to make the final score 4-3.
Montana now returns to Big Sky Conference play with a crucial road trip west to take on Eastern Washington and Idaho on March 15 and 17.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,1,2
#1 Singles Match
12
O'CONNOR, Sarah / 0 [NM]
42
66
#2 Singles Match
12
JHANG, Katherine / 0 [NM]
24
66
#3 Singles Match
12
VANDEPUTTE, Maud / 0 [NM]
66
40
#4 Singles Match
123
HOPPE, Leonie / 0 [NM]
566
724
#5 Singles Match
12
VANDEPUTTE, Bente / 0 [NM]
66
40
#6 Singles Match
12
SODRE, Maria / 0 [NM]
64
76
Order of Finish:
3,2,1,4,5,6
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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