Griz look to home court advantage with Wildcats in town

The Montana men's team returns to action on Saturday for a one-off dual in Missoula this week, and it's a big one.

Fresh off a gritty, momentum-building win, the sixth place Griz (2-2, 12-7 overall) take on the second place Weber State Wildcats (3-1, 7-10 overall) in a Big Sky dual at the Peak Racquet Club on Saturday at 10 a.m.

With only the top six teams in the league advancing to the conference tournament, Saturday's dual is full of implications and opportunity for Montana as the Griz look to punch their ticket to Phoenix.

Standing in their way are the Wildcats, one of the hottest teams in the league right now after upsetting both Idaho and the preseason conference favorite Northern Arizona in Ogden last week.

But momentum and home court advantage always play a big role in college tennis, and the Griz have both in spades right now.

UM has suffered only four losses at the Peak in the last three seasons, and is coming off a heart-pumping win over Idaho State last week that saw the Griz rally to win the doubles before riding the momentum to a 5-2 win over the then-second place Bengals.

Moritz Stoeger earned a nomination for Big Sky Player of the Week after an undefeated weekend against Sac State and Idaho State. Not only did he win, he did it in straight sets and dramatic fashion.

In singles, the senior beat Sac State's Jiri Novak 6-3, 6-2. Against Idaho State he beat the defending Big Sky Player of the Week 6-4, 6-4, on court five to go 2-0.

In doubles, he and Baltazar Wiger-Nordas beat Sac's Silva/Novak pair 6-2, then they really turned-up the heat.

Against Idaho State they staged one of the biggest comebacks possible in college tennis.

Trailing ISU's Kramer/Robbertse pair 1-5 and with match point coming at 15-40, Stoeger helped lead a rebound for the ages. The pair rattled off an unbelievable streak of six straight games to take a 5-6 lead in the deciding doubles match.

The showdown eventually went to a tiebreaker where the two kept their foot on the gas to clinch the round with a 7-6 (2) win.

"That's a nice bit of momentum after the Sac State loss, but Weber State is coming here after a massive win over NAU at home. They're a really talented team and everyone sort of earmarks that match because they're very dangerous. So, it's going to take our best and most disciplined effort," said head coach Jason Brown.

"As always, the doubles point is going to be huge and the right guys need to step up when it's time. The matchups aren't bad for us, so it should be a great match. They're all important this time of year so we're excited to get another one at home."

Tom Bittner is also going to be a factor for the Griz this week. At 12-2 this season and 3-1 in conference play, the sophomore is vying for first-team all-league honors and has a big opportunity to make a statement on Saturday.

SCOUTING WSU: Weber State comes to Missoula as one of the hottest teams in the league as the regular season winds down. At 7-10 overall, they logged wins over UNLV, New Mexico State, and Hawaii before going on an eight-match losing streak.

Since then, however, they've bounced back to take three-straight conference wins, and they've all been big ones. They started the streak with a 5-2 road in at Portland State then returned home for two massive wins over Idaho (5-2) and preseason favorite Northern Arizona (4-3).

Freshman Ken Minh was named the Big Sky Player of the Week on Wednesday after going 2-0 in singles and 1-0 in doubles, helping lead WSU to a win over Idaho and clinching the win over NAU.

UP NEXT: Montana takes its penultimate road trip of the regular season to Cheney for another one-off conference match against Eastern Washington on Thursday, April 11.

The Griz then return to Missoula for their final home match of the year three days later, hosting perennial powerhouse Northern Arizona at the Peak Racquet Club on Sunday, April 14, with start time set for 9 a.m.

Griz look to home court advantage with Wildcats in town

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Players Mentioned

Tom Bittner

Moritz Stoeger

Baltazar Wiger-Nordas

University of Montana Athletics