Undefeated Haugen named Big Sky Player of the Week

After running through a pair of road matches at Colorado State and Air Force undefeated in singles and doubles, Montana senior Grace Haugen was named Big Sky women's tennis Player of the Week on Wednesday. It's the third time in her career she's won weekly honors.

Not only was she undefeated over the weekend, she remained unbeaten on the season. On UM's week one trip to Eugene, Haugen beat her opponent from Portland State in straight sets and was the only Grizzly to win a set against her opponent from Oregon, leading the match when the dual was clinched for the Ducks.

She now sits 3-0 in singles and 3-1 in doubles on the early season. But go back further and Haugen's record reflects even more dominance, and she's showing no signs of letting up now.

You have to go back to April 13, 2024, to find the last time she lost a singles match in a college dual, now riding a streak of six-straight wins. She finished last season with three-consecutive wins and player of the week honors after clinching a win over Montana State that earned the Griz a share of the regular season conference title.

"Her level of play has been impressive – how she's approaching things mentally and working through some challenging situations. If you're a fan and you get to see her play, it's been a joy to watch," said head coach Steve Ascher.

"She finished last season very strong and won her match down at the conference championship in Phoenix, but she's taken it to a whole other level. Maybe two or three levels. She's stepped up in terms of her mentality, just being aggressive, reading plays and taking over points a bit more. And it's been consistent. Every day at practice she's bringing the same level as she does in her matches, and she's getting results against good teams."

On last week's trip to the Front Range, Haugen moved up to singles court one for the first time this season and beat CSU's Sarah Weekley in straight sets (6-3, 7-5). She followed that up with a win over Air Force No. 1 Alexis Odom (6-4, 6-7(4), 10-6) in a superbreaker less than 24 hours later.

In doubles, she partnered with Rosie Sterk to earn two wins as well. In Fort Collins they beat the Rams' Voeks/Zhadzinskaya pair 6-4 to help Montana to a win in the round. At Air Force they partnered to beat the Falcons' Kojonroj/Houwelin pair 6-2.

Haugen has been one of Montana's most decorated players throughout her career, and she's done it all while battling injury. Her freshman season she finished the year as the No. 20-ranked player in the Mountain Region and was All-Big Sky in singles and doubles. After a sophomore season spent at less than 100 percent physically, she rebounded in 2024 to earn all-conference honors again in doubles.

Haugen and the Grizzlies now prepare for a trip to Lewis-Clark State on Friday for a one-off dual before heading south to open Big Sky play at Weber State on Feb. 22, followed by a test at Utah State the next day.

University of Montana Athletics

Players Mentioned

Grace Haugen

Rosie Sterk

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