Griz fall to Vikings in nonconference tune-up

Saturday, January 18

Eugene, Ore.

11 AM (MT)

Montana

Portland State

1/18/2025 4:19:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana women's tennis team earned a pair of individual wins in the singles round but fell to Portland State 4-2 in the team score in a nonconference dual on a neutral court at the University of Oregon on Saturday. The loss drops UM to 0-2 in the early season after falling to the Ducks on Friday afternoon.

Senior Grace Haugen capped a strong opening weekend, taking a doubles win on court one with her partner Rosie Sterk and a straight-set singles win on court two. Haugen was also the only Grizzly to win a set against Oregon in the first match of the weekend.

Freshman Kate Prichard of San Diego earned a straight set win as well – her first as a Grizzly – to give Montana a pair of team points. It was too little, too late for UM, however, as PSU won the doubles round and three singles matches to take the team win.

In doubles, Haugen and Sterk tied the round at one win apiece, beating PSU's Beukers/Uemura pair 6-2 on court one. The Vikings would clinch the point on court three, however, with the Salam/Hirayama pair beating UM's freshman duo of Monika Fizova and Olivia Moir 6-1 to put PSU up 1-0 in the team score.

After a slow start in singles Montana made a late run with wins in two of the final three matches. Kelsey Phillips, the reigning Big Sky Freshman of the Year, was forced to retire injured on court one in the first set for one of PSU's wins.

Haugen pushed through a tough opening set to beat Nene Uemura 6-4, 6-2, on court two for the first Grizzly win of the day. Prichard finished her match strong on court six, beating Ayra Salim 6-2, 6-4.

"This is one of those close and tight early matches we need to learn and grow from. I loved how we responded in singles after doubles. We were down 0-3 and Kate and Grace pulled out two of three to start making PSU feel more pressure. We continued battling to the end and will learn a ton from this match," said head coach Steve Ascher.

Montana will get another shot at Portland State in the Big Sky Conference dual in Missoula on March 16. In the meantime, the Griz prepare to return to the road for another pair of challenging nonconference matches this weekend, heading the Front Range for duals at Colorado State and Air Force on January 24 and 25, respectively.