Women’s tennis reloads with five signees
7/29/2024 1:18:00 PM | Women's Tennis
The reining Big Sky regular season champion Montana women's tennis team has reloaded again for the 2024-25 season with the addition of five new players to the roster, head coach Steve Ascher announced Monday.
The Griz brought in a mix of college experience and high school talent in this year's recruiting class, with two transfers and three true freshmen set to join the program in the fall, including one four-star prep standout.
Piper Freeman comes to Montana after one year at Loyola Marymount in Los Angles, and Kaylin Kielty from the University of the Redlands will each transfer to Missoula as sophomores with three years to play.
Monika Fižová of the Czech Republic, Olivia Moir of Melbourne, Australia, and Kate Prichard of San Diego round out the high school stars that will come to Missoula as true freshmen.
Montana is coming off one of the best seasons in program history, going 6-2 in Big Sky play to win a share of the program's third regular season conference title.
The Griz are set to return three All-Big Sky honorees from that run, including Freshman of the Year Kelsey Phillips and doubles standouts Rosie Sterk and Grace Haugen.
UM is led by Ascher, who earned Big Sky Coach of the Year honors for the third time in his career and says the incoming recruits continue to raise the bar of competitiveness both on the court and off.
"We're really wanting to build a tribe of players that all want to be around each other, like the same things, and like putting in the hard work. We want to get after it. We want to be athletic, and these players all fit that mold," he said.
Piper Freeman, So., 5-5, Sydney, Australia / Meriden School / Loyola Marymount
Freeman comes to Montana after a season at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles where she was a squad member but did not see action due to health issues.
As a prep athlete in Australia, she helped Meriden School win a team Australian all-schools national championship in 2022 as team captain and was part of four-time Tildesley Tennis State Championship teams in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Freeman held a career-high WTA doubles ranking of 1345 in March of 2024 and had an ITF junior ranking as high as 993 and an ITF singles women's ranking of 1543. She's earned three WTA singles and 13 WTA doubles points in her career to date and qualified for the W15 Caloundra Singles in July of 2023.
She plans on majoring in finance and international business at Montana.
Quoting Coach Ascher: "I'm excited to see Piper. She's got an all-court game and an attacking style. She's really into doubles, she had a WTA point before she headed off to college. Plus, she's really excited for the opportunity to come here and start competing. She's a high energy kid and she'll bring that upbeat effervescence.
"I also liked connecting with her coach about his style and how he goes about developing players. It seems to jive well with what we're doing here."
Kaylin Kielty, So., 5-6, Canyon Lake, Calif. / Keith McCarthy Academy / U. of Redlands
Kielty comes to Montana after one season at the University of the Redlands in Southern California where she helped the Bulldogs advance to a top 10 ranking and the D-III NCAA Sweet 16 with a 10-8 overall record and a 6-1 regional record.
She went undefeated at 5-0 in conference singles play, 5-2 in overall singles and 4-1 on court five singles, winning five-straight matches to close out her first year of college tennis. She also earned scholar athlete honors and a place on the Dean's List in both the fall and spring semesters and was named "Bulldog of the Year" following the spring season.
Kielty was a two-sport athlete in high school, lettering three years in tennis and two years in track and serving as team captain in both. She helped her team win three-straight Sunbelt League team titles in tennis, went undefeated in 2022, and was and all-league MVP in 2021. In track she was a two-time sprinter of the year and helped set a new school record in the 4x400m relay as a three-time all-league honoree.
She plans to major in math at UM and wants to become a sports statistician after a successful high school academic career where she was an early graduate and class valedictorian. Her dad Bobby spent seven years as an outfielder in Major League Baseball where he helped the Boston Red Sox win the 2007 World Series.
Quoting Coach Ascher: "Kaylin is a really good athlete, loves to be in the gym working out. She's another high-energy kid and a leader from a work standpoint. She's just a natural leader and gets people excited about working out and pushing themselves to get better.
"I had a great talk with her former coach who is now at Oregon, and he said she could have been a team captain her freshman season, so we're excited to have her in Missoula."
Monika Fižová, Fr., 5-7, Frydlant nad Ostravici, Czechia / Educanet Ostrava HS
Fižová comes to Montana as a true freshman in the fall after a successful junior career where she helped her club team finish eighth at the Czech National Championship tournament in 2020 and 7th in 2019. She's also achieved individual success, finishing third at the junior Billie Jean King Cup in 2015.
She plans to study psychology at UM and become a sports psychologist in the world of professional tennis.
Quoting Coach Ascher: "Monika jumped on our radar pretty early in the recruiting process. She trains with some national programs in Czech and everybody has had positive things to say about her. She's another energetic, hard-working kid who is full of energy.
"She's fast and explosive physically, and has a really strong playing background in Czech. The Czech Republic probably has some of the best women's tennis in the world right now and I feel like they're developing so many really good players. So, she has a good understanding of the game coming in. Her tennis IQ seems really good."
Olivia Moir, Fr. 5-10, Melbourne, Australia / Haileybury College
Moir comes to Montana as a three-sport athlete in high school, lettering in tennis, track & field, and table tennis. She went undefeated in the 2023 school tennis season and comes to UM with a 20-8 overall record.
She was named to the regional Victorian tennis team in 2021 and 2023 and was named team captain in 2023. She was also a two-year team captain of her school team in 2022 and '23, and was selected to play on the APS Representative Team 2020-2023. She also won the LG Harland Trophy for her contribution to inter-school tennis in 2022 and 2023.
Moir plans on studying business and marketing at Montana and wants to work toward a career in tennis. In her free time she enjoys golfing and hiking.
Quoting Coach Ascher: "Olivia is a little taller and plays a bigger game. I liked her fitness level and she's been improving a lot recently. She's played a bunch of tournaments this summer and her results keep improving. We're always looking for players that are going to continue to develop and trend upwards when they get here and I feel like she's got some really nice upside."
Kate Prichard, Fr., 5-10, San Diego, Calif. / Patrick Henry HS
Prichard comes to Montana rated a four star prospect by the Tennis Recruiting Network who has been playing competitively since the age of eight. She was a three-year letterman in tennis, team captain as a junior and senior and a three-time team MVP at Patrick Henry High School.
She was the Western league Player of the Year as a senior and was a three-time first-team all-league player as a CIF San Diego singles finalist her senior year and doubles champion as a junior. She was also a Western League singles champion as a senior, a doubles champion as a junior, and a singles finalist as a sophomore.
Prichard plans to study environmental science at Montana in hopes of a career in environmental engineering or architecture.
Quoting Coach Ascher: "Kate was our first signing in the fall. She's a four-star recruit and we're very familiar with her having played at the same high school as (former Grizzly) Julia (Ronney) being coached by Julia's mom. Both have nothing but good things to say about Kate and thinks she'll be a stellar player. She's got a big serve and being tall has a big game. She's in good shape too. She runs a sub seven-minute mile and will be one of our fastest players. That's impressive."
The Griz brought in a mix of college experience and high school talent in this year's recruiting class, with two transfers and three true freshmen set to join the program in the fall, including one four-star prep standout.
Piper Freeman comes to Montana after one year at Loyola Marymount in Los Angles, and Kaylin Kielty from the University of the Redlands will each transfer to Missoula as sophomores with three years to play.
Monika Fižová of the Czech Republic, Olivia Moir of Melbourne, Australia, and Kate Prichard of San Diego round out the high school stars that will come to Missoula as true freshmen.
Montana is coming off one of the best seasons in program history, going 6-2 in Big Sky play to win a share of the program's third regular season conference title.
The Griz are set to return three All-Big Sky honorees from that run, including Freshman of the Year Kelsey Phillips and doubles standouts Rosie Sterk and Grace Haugen.
UM is led by Ascher, who earned Big Sky Coach of the Year honors for the third time in his career and says the incoming recruits continue to raise the bar of competitiveness both on the court and off.
"We're really wanting to build a tribe of players that all want to be around each other, like the same things, and like putting in the hard work. We want to get after it. We want to be athletic, and these players all fit that mold," he said.
Piper Freeman, So., 5-5, Sydney, Australia / Meriden School / Loyola Marymount
Freeman comes to Montana after a season at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles where she was a squad member but did not see action due to health issues.
As a prep athlete in Australia, she helped Meriden School win a team Australian all-schools national championship in 2022 as team captain and was part of four-time Tildesley Tennis State Championship teams in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Freeman held a career-high WTA doubles ranking of 1345 in March of 2024 and had an ITF junior ranking as high as 993 and an ITF singles women's ranking of 1543. She's earned three WTA singles and 13 WTA doubles points in her career to date and qualified for the W15 Caloundra Singles in July of 2023.
She plans on majoring in finance and international business at Montana.
Quoting Coach Ascher: "I'm excited to see Piper. She's got an all-court game and an attacking style. She's really into doubles, she had a WTA point before she headed off to college. Plus, she's really excited for the opportunity to come here and start competing. She's a high energy kid and she'll bring that upbeat effervescence.
"I also liked connecting with her coach about his style and how he goes about developing players. It seems to jive well with what we're doing here."
Kaylin Kielty, So., 5-6, Canyon Lake, Calif. / Keith McCarthy Academy / U. of Redlands
Kielty comes to Montana after one season at the University of the Redlands in Southern California where she helped the Bulldogs advance to a top 10 ranking and the D-III NCAA Sweet 16 with a 10-8 overall record and a 6-1 regional record.
She went undefeated at 5-0 in conference singles play, 5-2 in overall singles and 4-1 on court five singles, winning five-straight matches to close out her first year of college tennis. She also earned scholar athlete honors and a place on the Dean's List in both the fall and spring semesters and was named "Bulldog of the Year" following the spring season.
Kielty was a two-sport athlete in high school, lettering three years in tennis and two years in track and serving as team captain in both. She helped her team win three-straight Sunbelt League team titles in tennis, went undefeated in 2022, and was and all-league MVP in 2021. In track she was a two-time sprinter of the year and helped set a new school record in the 4x400m relay as a three-time all-league honoree.
She plans to major in math at UM and wants to become a sports statistician after a successful high school academic career where she was an early graduate and class valedictorian. Her dad Bobby spent seven years as an outfielder in Major League Baseball where he helped the Boston Red Sox win the 2007 World Series.
Quoting Coach Ascher: "Kaylin is a really good athlete, loves to be in the gym working out. She's another high-energy kid and a leader from a work standpoint. She's just a natural leader and gets people excited about working out and pushing themselves to get better.
"I had a great talk with her former coach who is now at Oregon, and he said she could have been a team captain her freshman season, so we're excited to have her in Missoula."
Monika Fižová, Fr., 5-7, Frydlant nad Ostravici, Czechia / Educanet Ostrava HS
Fižová comes to Montana as a true freshman in the fall after a successful junior career where she helped her club team finish eighth at the Czech National Championship tournament in 2020 and 7th in 2019. She's also achieved individual success, finishing third at the junior Billie Jean King Cup in 2015.
She plans to study psychology at UM and become a sports psychologist in the world of professional tennis.
Quoting Coach Ascher: "Monika jumped on our radar pretty early in the recruiting process. She trains with some national programs in Czech and everybody has had positive things to say about her. She's another energetic, hard-working kid who is full of energy.
"She's fast and explosive physically, and has a really strong playing background in Czech. The Czech Republic probably has some of the best women's tennis in the world right now and I feel like they're developing so many really good players. So, she has a good understanding of the game coming in. Her tennis IQ seems really good."
Olivia Moir, Fr. 5-10, Melbourne, Australia / Haileybury College
Moir comes to Montana as a three-sport athlete in high school, lettering in tennis, track & field, and table tennis. She went undefeated in the 2023 school tennis season and comes to UM with a 20-8 overall record.
She was named to the regional Victorian tennis team in 2021 and 2023 and was named team captain in 2023. She was also a two-year team captain of her school team in 2022 and '23, and was selected to play on the APS Representative Team 2020-2023. She also won the LG Harland Trophy for her contribution to inter-school tennis in 2022 and 2023.
Moir plans on studying business and marketing at Montana and wants to work toward a career in tennis. In her free time she enjoys golfing and hiking.
Quoting Coach Ascher: "Olivia is a little taller and plays a bigger game. I liked her fitness level and she's been improving a lot recently. She's played a bunch of tournaments this summer and her results keep improving. We're always looking for players that are going to continue to develop and trend upwards when they get here and I feel like she's got some really nice upside."
Kate Prichard, Fr., 5-10, San Diego, Calif. / Patrick Henry HS
Prichard comes to Montana rated a four star prospect by the Tennis Recruiting Network who has been playing competitively since the age of eight. She was a three-year letterman in tennis, team captain as a junior and senior and a three-time team MVP at Patrick Henry High School.
She was the Western league Player of the Year as a senior and was a three-time first-team all-league player as a CIF San Diego singles finalist her senior year and doubles champion as a junior. She was also a Western League singles champion as a senior, a doubles champion as a junior, and a singles finalist as a sophomore.
Prichard plans to study environmental science at Montana in hopes of a career in environmental engineering or architecture.
Quoting Coach Ascher: "Kate was our first signing in the fall. She's a four-star recruit and we're very familiar with her having played at the same high school as (former Grizzly) Julia (Ronney) being coached by Julia's mom. Both have nothing but good things to say about Kate and thinks she'll be a stellar player. She's got a big serve and being tall has a big game. She's in good shape too. She runs a sub seven-minute mile and will be one of our fastest players. That's impressive."
Players Mentioned
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