First place Griz set for crucial pair of home duals

It's been a decade since the Montana women's tennis team won the program's first and only Big Sky Conference championship.

With just three matches left to play, this year's Grizzlies enter the home stretch of the regular season in control of their own destiny with a shot at another Big Sky title in the crosshairs.

But first things first.

Montana, now sitting alone in first place in the conference standings thanks to an Idaho loss at Northern Arizona on Thursday, will host No. 2 Idaho State and No. 3 Weber State this weekend in a pair of conference matches at the Peak Racquet Club in Missoula.

Fresh off two off the biggest wins in program history led by a Big Sky Player of the Week performance, the Griz have the chance to make more history with the Wildcats and Bengals – tied for second in the league - coming to town to try and unseat them.

Montana (4-1 BSC, 6-10 overall) opens the slate on Saturday, April 13, at 10:30 a.m. against Weber State (4-2 BSC, 12-7 overall), who comes to Missoula after beating ISU 4-3 and Eastern Washington 5-2 on the road last week.

The Griz then take on the Bengals (4-2 BSC, 10-5 overall) on Sunday, April 14, at roughly 2:30 p.m., or after the UM men's team finishes their morning match. ISU has split their last two matches, falling to WSU and beating EWU 6-1 in Pocatello.

Montana is riding a wave of momentum after knocking-off the six time defending conference champion NAU 6-1 and the previously first-place Sac State Hornets 5-2 last week.

"Our approach to last weekend's matches has given us a template of how we need to move forward. So, we're just maintaining that day-to-day operation, being present in the moment, allowing ourselves to play free, and not thinking about the future too much. We want to get after it in doubles, continue to bring everything we can energy wise, dig deep and see if we can make more special moments happen," said head coach Steve Ascher.

"The vibe on the team is great right now. Everyone is getting that winning feeling. Up and down the lineup, everyone is saying they want to do better, and they want to improve. So, they can feel it. It's such a fun thing to be around a team that's continuing to stretch themselves and grow."

IMPLICATIONS: Montana controls its own fate as it seeks a championship. The Griz can clinch at least a share of the Big Sky title with a pair of wins this weekend, and even has a path to an outright championship pending other results around the league.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Grizzly No. 1 Hailey Murphy earned the first Big Sky Player of the Week honor of her career on Wednesday after leading UM to a pair of upset wins last week.

Murphy went undefeated in singles and clinched Montana's win over then-first place Sacramento State by beating Mayya Gorbunova in a three-set thriller 6-1, 6-7 (1), 6-4.

The sophomore also cruised to victory over six-time defending conference champion Northern Arizona's Pat Niewiadomska – last year's Big Sky Freshman of the Year – 6-3, 6-1, to help propel Montana into first place in the conference standings.

Murphy also split doubles matches over the weekend, partnering with Kelsey Phillips to beat Sac State's Ejsmont/Lee pair 7-5 on court one.

The Calgary native is now 5-0 in Big Sky singles, 13-3 on the season overall, and 9-1 since taking over the No. 1 position for the Griz.

COOL KELSEY: Phillips has been another consistent winner for the Griz since moving to singles court two, now at 6-2 on that line, 4-1 in conference play, and a winner in six straight matches. The freshman has won four of her last six matches in straight sets as well, and brought the juice for the Griz, who have now won five of their last seven duals.

Phillips and Murphy have also been strong in conference doubles at 4-1 against league opponents at 7-8 overall.

DOUBLES DYNAMOS: Speaking of doubles, Montana has won five of the last seven doubles rounds, boosted by Grace Haugen and Rosie Sterk. The two juniors are 5-0 in conference play in doubles, 8-5 overall, and 6-2 when playing on court three. All told, they've won seven straight doubles sets to help the Griz capture the opening point.

UP NEXT: Montana caps the regular season and could capture a potential Big Sky Championship in Bozeman when the Griz face the Bobcats (12-5, 3-3 BSC) in the Brawl of the Wild match on Saturday, April 20, at 10 a.m.

First place Griz set for crucial pair of home duals

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Grace Haugen

Hailey Murphy

Kelsey Phillips

Rosie Sterk

University of Montana Athletics