Griz beat Air Force in weekend sweep

Saturday, February 8

USAF Academy, Colo.

3 PM

Montana

Air Force

2/9/2025 6:03:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana men's tennis team battled through six-straight three-set matches to earn a signature 5-2 road win over the Air Force Falcons on Saturday.

The historic victory – the first-ever for the Griz at the Academy and their second over the Falcons in the last four seasons – was the highlight of a two-match trip to Colorado Springs, with UM also taking down D-II Metro State of Denver 7-0 on Sunday.

The pair of wins gets UM off to a 6-0 start for the first time since 2022 – which was the last time the Griz beat Air Force en route to a 15-5 season and a trip to the conference semifinal.

Montana started strong against the Falcons, winning the opening doubles point with wins on courts one and three to take a 1-0 team lead. Paced by last year's unanimous All-Big Sky ace Tom Bittner in singles, the Griz ground out three wins on the top four singles courts, all in three sets, to claim the team win that was clinched by junior Baltazar Wiger-Nordas.

"Air Force has a hell of a team, and I truly believe this is one of the toughest places to play in the nation. The altitude, fast indoor courts, it's just a tough hostile environment and I'm really proud of the guys," said head coach Jason Brown.

"The match was razor thin. Every match was a three-setter and I'm not sure if I've ever seen that before. We were a pretty dominant in the doubles point and then four of the six singles went our way, so I'm really proud of the effort. It feels really good to start the season 6-0."

Freshman Duncan McCall, who won a fall tournament bracket in his first-ever collegiate event at Air Force in September, earned Montana's first singles win, beating Alec Fritzinger in come-from-behind fashion 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, to put UM up 2-0 in the team score.

Bittner – who finished his sophomore season ranked as the No. 10 player in the Mountain Region – made a big argument for increasing that ranking, beating Air Force No. 1 Arjun Kersten in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, in his first match in nearly three weeks. The win put Montana in the driver's seat, leading the team score 3-0 with two more matches going into a third set.

"It was great to have Tommy back leading from the front. He took care of business against Air Force's number one, who is one of the best players in our region. So, Tommy beating him on his home court in his senior season is really special. He's been battling some injuries, but he just stepped up and has turned into an amazing leader for us," added Brown.

After Fernando Perez dropped a second-set tiebreaker to eventually fall in the third on court four to make it a 3-1 team score, Wiger-Nordas sealed the team victory for the Griz with a win on court two.

The Norwegian, who capped the fall with two-consecutive tournament wins, continued his winning form, beating Phillip Deaton in a three-set bounce-back after winning a tiebreaker in the first 7-6 (1), 5-7, 7-5, putting the Griz up for good 4-1.

With the match in hand, freshman Johnny Wilkinson and Junior Eivind Tandberg split the remaining two matches on courts five and six to make it a 5-2 final score for UM.

Montana capped the trip with a neutral-court dual against Metro State on Sunday morning at the Academy, running through the Roadrunners 7-0.

The Griz again won the doubles point to take a 1-0 team lead, squeaking by in a 7-6 (3) tiebreaker from Bittner and Tandberg on court two to win the round.

UM carried the momentum into singles, winning five of the six matches in straight sets, with one settled in a superbreaker for Chris Zhang after the win had already been clinched to make it a 7-0 final. Also picking up a victory was freshman Moritz Lesjak on court six, rotating in for the third win of his career.

With momentum from the road trip sweep the Griz now turn their attention to a pair of tune-ups against Whitman and Lewis-Clark State before again testing themselves at Gonzaga on Feb. 23, then opening conference play at Sacramento State in early March.

"Everyone ended up playing throughout the weekend and we got singles wins from everybody on the trip as well, which was pretty special. Everyone played doubles too, so it's something we can definitely build on and gain some confidence from winning on the road," said Brown.

"I told the guys to cherish this because winning on the road in college tennis is very tough, and road wins against Mountain West teams doesn't happen too often."