Depleted Griz drop a pair of matches in Colorado

Friday, January 24

Fort Collins, Colo.

3 PM

Montana

Colorado State

Grace Haugen prepares to hit the ball against the Idaho Vandals on March 23, 2023 at PEAK Fitness. The Grizzlies beat the Vandals 5-2.

Photo by: UM Photo / Ridley Hudson

1/25/2025 8:43:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Montana Sports Information

In the midst of a bout with the injury bug, the Montana women's tennis team dropped a pair of duals on the road this weekend as the Grizzlies traveled to the Front Range to take on Colorado State and Air Force.

With only six healthy players on the trip and one playing banged-up, the Griz fell to the Rams 5-2 in a five-hour match that lasted late into the evening Friday before traveling south to Colorado Springs and taking on the Falcons at 9 a.m. Saturday in a 6-1 loss.

Senior Grace Haugen was a bright spot for the Griz, remaining undefeated in singles on the season with singles and doubles wins in both matches along with her partner Rosie Sterk.

Haugen opened the trip with a straight set win over CSU's Sarah Weekly in Fort Collins and capped it with a three-set superbreaker win over Air Force's Alexis Odom improve to 3-0 on the season. She also earned a win over Portland State last week and was the only Grizzly to win a set against Oregon in the season opener in Eugene.

"It's been really cool to see Grace doing so well. There's been something different about her since the ITA tournament in the fall. Just a calm that's come over her and a clarity that she's been playing with. So, it's been cool to see that and see her competing day in and day out in the spring," said head coach Steve Ascher.

Montana opened the weekend with a doubles win at Colorado State with Haugen and Sterk winning on court one 6-4 over the Rams' Voeks/Zhadzinskaya pair, and Kelsey Phillips and Shivika Agrawal winning 7-5 on court three over the Dobreva/Lizardo pair to take a 1-0 lead.

Haugen would get UM's only victory in the singles round, however, hanging on to beat Weekly 6-3, 7-5 to make it a 5-2 final after the Griz had to forfeit the match on court six with Phillips out injured.

At Air Force, Haugen and Sterk went back to work in doubles with a 6-2 win over the Falcons' Kojonroj/Houwelin pair, but the hosts would eventually take the opening point with wins on courts two and three.

In singles, Haugen jumped out to a win in the first set before hanging on to beat Odom 6-4, 6-7 (4), 10-6, in a tie breaker. The Falcons were able to take straight set wins on the remaining courts, however, with another forfeit on court six.

The losses drop UM to 0-4 on the early season with CSU improving to 1-0 and Air Force improving to 1-1.

"I think the big thing is how much we've improved just in one week's time. Obviously, we're battling a little bit of physicality issues and illnesses right now, but the people that are taking the court are learning, growing and really showing what they've been working on during the week. So, I love our mentality, I love how we're handling ourselves, and I love our composure," said Ascher.

Montana now prepares to take on NAIA Lewis-Clark State in a doubleheader next weekend in Lewiston, Idaho.