Griz close out regular season against Cats with title on the line

Griz versus Cats for a shot at a Big Sky championship?

You don't have blood in your veins if that doesn't fire you up.

The Montana women's tennis team heads to Bozeman on Saturday needing a win against Montana State in its final regular season dual of the year to clinch a share of the Big Sky title.

For anyone who has set foot in the Treasure State, the stakes just don't get any higher.

In the home stretch of the program's best season in a decade, the Griz, currently tied for second in the Big Sky standings at 5-2, head over the divide to take on the Cats (currently in third place at 4-3) at 10 a.m. on April. 20 in the Bobcat Anderson Tennis Center.

Montana travels east on a roll as winners of four of their last five matches, led by potential Big Sky MVP Hailey Murphy who is 15-3 on the year and undefeated in conference play.

Montana State has stumbled in three conference matches on the road but defended their home courts masterfully at 7-0 in Bozeman this season and is on a hot streak of its own as a winner in seven of its last eight matches.

With both teams expected to advance to the postseason tourney, it sets up a dual of epic proportions.

"We really want this win," said Murphy.

"We're so close. This is the closest we've been in many years to getting regular season title. So, we all really want it this one. I can tell when we're on the court, everyone's competing really hard. I'm excited for it. It's going to be good energy because they're going to have their fans, but I'm excited for it."

Montana is in the midst of its best season since winning a conference title in 2014, but they've had to scrap for it. The Griz have played seven matches that have ended in a 4-3 decision this year, with four of their seven conference matches coming down to the final court.

With MSU undefeated at home, the Griz head to Bozeman expecting nothing less than another dogfight.

"It's going to be a battle. Who's going to be able to stay in the present moment, point after point, for four and a half, five hours? I think more than anything, it's framing your mindset to know this is going to be a long battle so let's push everything to the break and see what happens," said head coach Steve Ascher.

IMPLICATIONS: One word: Championship. A win for Montana at MSU will guarantee the Griz a share of the Big Sky regular season championship. Should the Griz win, they'll share the title with Idaho State, who clinched a share last week after beating UM and Idaho. A win for Sacramento State over Portland State on Saturday could also net the Hornets a share of the title as well.

With Idaho State holding a head-to-head win over Montana, the Bengals would get the No. 1 seed at the conference tourney should UM and Sac each win on Saturday, leaving the Griz in No. 2 with a win over the Hornets.

GRIZ TRACKS: Murphy, two weeks removed from the first Big Sky Player of the Week honor of her career, leads Montana into battle as the winningest line one player in the Big Sky at 15-3 overall and the only line one player undefeated in league play at 7-0.

The sophomore from Calgary has won 13 of her last 14 matches and is on a heater at nine-straight wins as well, seven of which have come in straight sets.

She's in the mix to become Montana's first Big Sky MVP since 2014 when Hailey Driver – now an assistant coach with the team – helped lead the Griz to their last conference title.

In her two years with the team she's seen the Griz go from underdog (picked to finish fifth in the Big Sky preseason poll this year) to contenders, having already racked up the most league wins for the team since 2015.

For her, a chance to win a title would be a signal that the team has returned to becoming a leader in the Big Sky women's tennisand would provide a boost of momentum headed the conference tourney in Phoenix where six teams will compete for the league's auto bid to the NCAA tournament.

"Oh my god, it would be so amazing to win a championship," Murphy added.

"Just coming from last year, we weren't expected to make it to conference and then we made it, and then now this year, we have a chance to get a share of the regular season title. That would be so incredible. Going to Arizona, that's gonna be tough, but if we have a little momentum from a win, that will give us a little more confidence into down there. So yeah, it would be incredible."

Freshman Kelsey Phillips has been another emerging leader for the Griz this season. The native of Minnetonka, Minn., has won seven of her last eight and is 5-2 in conference play. She heads to Bozeman coming off an epic come-from-behind win over Idaho State's Sol O'Lideadha where she came back from 6-3 down in a second-set tiebreak to pick up UM's first win over the ISU senior 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3.

Montana will look to get back on track in the always-important doubles round against MSU. Led by juniors Grace Haugen and Rosie Sterk, the Griz have had two of the Big Sky's best in doubles this season at 5-2 together on the year.

Those two losses have been the last two for the Griz, however. Going into last week's matches against Weber State and Idaho State Montana had won five of its last seven doubles round and two-straight in wins over Northern Arizona and Sacramento State.

But doubles proved to be the difference maker in both the WSU and ISU matches with one point separating the winners from the losers, and the Griz know the opening point could prove crucial this week as well.

"We've been focusing on the doubles this week. Getting our doubles game back up a little bit stronger and just some mindset pieces that we want going into Bozeman. So doubles is huge," said Ascher.

UP NEXT: Win or lose on Saturday Montana has punched its ticket to the Big Sky postseason tourney and, depending on other results around the league this weekend, stands a good chance of earning a first-round bye as a top three seed.

The Big Sky Championship will be played April 25-27 on the outdoor courts at the Phoenix Tennis Center, under the sun in Phoenix, Arizona.

Griz close out regular season against Cats with title on the line

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Players Mentioned

Grace Haugen

Hailey Murphy

Kelsey Phillips

Rosie Sterk

University of Montana Athletics