Gonzaga hands Griz first loss of season

Sunday, February 23

Spokane, Wash.

11 AM (MT)

Montana

Gonzaga

Tom Bittner hits the ball during a tennis match between the Montana Grizzlies and the Whitworth Pirates at the Peak Racquet Club in Missoula, Montana on January 20, 2024.

Photo by: Ella Palulis/University of Montana

2/23/2025 5:39:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana men's tennis team started strong with a win in the doubles round, but a comeback from Gonzaga in singles handed the Griz their first loss of the season on Sunday at GU's Stevens Tennis Center in Spokane.

The win in doubles and yet another victory for Grizzly junior Tom Bittner in singles made it a 5-2 final score, as UM falls to 8-1 on the year and Gonzaga improves to 5-4.

The Griz got wins on doubles courts one and three, with the freshman pair of Johnny Wilkinson and Duncan McCall clinching on court three in a dominant 6-1 win over GU's Dunlop/Herrera pair to take an early 1-0 team lead.

In singles, Bittner, the No. 10 ranked player in the Mountain Region last season, stayed undefeated with his sixth-straight win on court one, beating Giovanni Branchetti in a second-set tiebreaker, 7-5, 7-6 (5).

The outcome in singles (and in turn the final teams score) could have gone either way, however, with two key matches coming down to a third set before the Zags pulled away for the win.

Baltazar Wiger-Nordas rebounded to win his second set over Kai Ampaw, but eventually lost the match on court two in the third 4-6, 6-3, 1-6, to clinch for Gonzaga. Fernando Perez also won a set, beating Jay Fairclough in the first on court one, but eventually fell in a marathon third-set tiebreaker 7-5, 5-7, 6-7 (5), to make the final score 5-2.

"You either win or you learn, and today we did the learning. The coach is taking responsibility for this one because I didn't have the guys prepared in a way that I should have. I think the team, and maybe even in my mind, thought Gonzaga would go away after the doubles point. We had all the momentum, but they came out way more fired up on their home courts than we did to compete in singles. But we got beat at tennis today. We've had a lot of three setters go our way this season, but the three setters that would've turned the tide today both went their way," said head coach Jason Brown.

"That being said, our doubles were outstanding, especially from the freshman on court three. Just clinically perfect. Tom Bittner was doing what he does and was able to win without his best tennis. The idea that he's beating a WCC number one when he wasn't even close to his peak today but found a way through is just what he does – It's a joy to watch."

Montana now enters a bye week before traveling to California to open Big Sky Conference play with duals against Pacific and Sacramento State, as well as a tournament appearance at Sac's Golden State Invitational March 5-8.