Griz set 2024-25 schedule, start tourney play this weekend

Montana men's tennis head coach Jason Brown has finalized his team's 2024-25 schedule of fall tournaments and duals in the spring championship season, with a slate of 26 total events on tap for the academic year.

Montana opens play this weekend in Colorado Springs at the U.S. Air Force Academy's Bedford Cup, the first of five tournaments in the fall that run the first weekend in November.

The Griz return to action early in 2025, opening the duals season at home on Jan. 25 and hosting five matches in the leadup to the Big Sky Championship Tournament in April, highlighted by the annual Brawl of the Wild match against Montana State in Missoula.

The Bedford Cup at Air Force and the Bengal Invitational at Idaho State in early October will serve as ramp-up events to the premiere tournament of the fall, the ITA Mountain Regional, this year held at UNLV in Las Vegas. UM will also stay home for one tournament at the Peak Fall Club Championship in Missoula, before capping the fall season at Gonzaga's Bulldog Classic.

"We got a great training block in getting ready for the Bedford Cup. We've got a couple of events to sort out who our top four players are to take to regionals. We've got a home event on the schedule to get everybody – the new guys especially – some reps in a tournament format at The Peak. Then wrapping up in Gonzaga, a place that will go in the spring and a place we're familiar with. It's a great tournament and it's always been sort of a classic wrap up to our fall season," said Brown.

"I'm honestly excited about how the schedule came together."

New this year, the ITA Regional will now serve as a qualifier for the NCAA national singles and doubles tournament, putting even more import on the fall's biggest event.

"That change puts a little more emphasis on it, and it turns into a rally cool opportunity for our region. So, we're looking forward to that and we're familiar playing in Vegas as well," Brown added.

After going dormant for the end of the fall semester and through the holiday season, the Griz then emerge from hibernation in late January for their first dual of the year, facing North Dakota for a third-straight year.

The Griz and Fighting Hawks will play a rubber-match on January 25 after UND beat Montana in Missoula in 2022 before UM returned the favor with a win in Grand Forks in 2023.

Montana then hits the road for a brutal 14-match road swing that will last nearly two months before they play their next match at home in late March.

After a return trip to Spokane to play Whitworth and EWU in a nonconference match, the Griz head back to the Front Range on Feb. 8 for a pair of duals in Colorado Springs against Metro State and Air Force.

"We're trying to solidify some of these regional rivalries. Regional teams we're familiar with. Teams like North Dakota and Air Force. North Dakota beat us at home a couple years ago and Air Force has turned into a nice rivalry. They're tough at home," added Brown.

The Griz then return to the Inland Northwest in late February for three matches at D-II Whitman in Walla-Walla, NAIA Lewis-Clark State in Lewiston, then back to Gonzaga in mid-to-late February.

"I feel like when you play smaller schools at home, it usually doesn't tell you too much. But when you play smaller schools on the road – and our football program and basketball programs feel this too – it's, it's a bit like the Super Bowl for them. We get their very best effort. If they can win a match or two, they get super excited. So, we really get a good level out of those guys at their place, and that's productive for us," said Brown.

Montana will then turn its attention to outdoor tennis in an effort to prepare for the Big Sky Tourney in the desert down in Phoenix. In early March the Griz travel to California for a test against a ranked Pacific team in Stockton before opening Big Sky play at Sacramento State as part of the Hornet's Golden State Invite mini tournament, where UM will get one more match in before returning home.

Then it's down to Arizona for the first time of the year to take on Grand Canyon in Phoenix before heading up to Flagstaff for another conference showdown at Northern Arizona, putting UM up against the two defending Big Sky co-champs in back-to-back weeks on the road.

It doesn't get any easier the following week when the Griz travel south to face Utah State in Logan followed by a league match at Weber State the weekend of March 21-23. Then, and only then, will Montana get the chance to play its second home match of the year.

"We've made this nonconference tougher than maybe in previous years to get us ready for the Big Sky Conference Championship because that's the goal. So, if we lose on the road in some of these tough spots where it's going to be hard to find some wins, I'm not as worried about it," said Brown.

"I'm looking to build momentum through April when the schedule is a little lighter to keep guys healthy and roll into Phoenix with momentum, healthy bodies, and fresh minds. So, I like the way it came together."
That chance to build momentum with four out of five home matches starts March 29 for the Griz when Portland State comes to Missoula. It's the first of two conference duals that weekend, with Idaho paying a visit to the Peak the following day on March 30.

On April 4 Eastern Washington comes to Missoula for a conference dual before the Griz embark on one last road trip to Idaho State on April 13. UM caps the regular season at home with the always important Brawl of the Wild match against Montana State on April 19.

"That's going to be one where we're going to push to fill the Peak with maroon and silver and get after those guys," said Brown.

After that, the top six teams on the league table will meet at the Big Sky Tourney in Phoenix starting on April 24.

The Griz enter the new season coming off a historic year that saw them rise to the program's highest-ever ranking in the Mountain Region at No. 8, with first team All-Big Sky pick Tom Bittner receiving the team's highest individual ranking ever in the region at No. 10.

Date	Opponent	Location
9.27-29	@ Bedford Cup	USAF Academy, Colo.
10.4-6	@ Bengal Invitational	Pocatello, Idaho
10.17-20	ITA Mountain Regional	Las Vegas, Nev.
10.25-27	Peak Fall Championships	Missoula, Mont.
11.8-10	@ Bulldog Classic	Spokane, Wash.
1.25	North Dakota	Missoula, Mont.
2.1	@ Whitworth	Spokane, Wash.
2.2	@ Eastern Washington	Cheney, Wash.
2.8	vs. Metro State	Colorado Springs, Colo.
2.9	@ Air Force	USAF Academy, Colo.
2.15	@ Whitman	Walla Walla, Wash.
2.16	@ Lewis-Clark State	Lewiston, Idaho
2.23	@ Gonzaga	Spokane, Wash.
3.5	@ Pacific	Stockton, Calif.
3.7	@ Sacramento State*	Sacramento, Calif.
3.8	@ Golden State Invite	Sacramento, Calif.
3.14	@ Grand Canyon	Phoenix, Ariz.
3.16	@ Northern Arizona*	Flagstaff, Ariz.
3.21	@ Utah State	Logan, Utah
3.23	@ Weber State*	Ogden, Utah
3.29	Portland State*	Missoula, Mont.
3.30	Idaho*	Missoula, Mont.
4.4	Eastern Washington*	Missoula, Mont.
4.13	@ Idaho State*	Pocatello, Idaho
4.19	Montana State*	Missoula, Mont.
4.24	Big Sky Championship	Phoenix, Ariz.
	*= Big Sky Match

Griz set 2024-25 schedule, start tourney play this weekend

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Players Mentioned

Tom Bittner

University of Montana Athletics