Griz fall at UC Davis to open California road trip

Friday, March 7

Davis, Calif.

2:30 PM (MT)

Montana

UC Davis

The Montana Grizzlies faced off with the New Mexico Lobos at PEAK Racquet Club on March 7, 2024 in Missoula, Montana.

Photo by: Coral Scoles-Coburn/University of Montana

3/7/2025 6:24:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

Kelsey Phillips pulled out her second-consecutive third set win as the Montana women's tennis team dropped a nonconference dual at UC Davis 6-1 on Friday to open a two-match trip to California.

The match against the Aggies served as a tune-up for the main event on Sunday as Montana stays in the Golden State for a Big Sky dual against the nationally ranked Sacramento State Hornets.

"It was good to get that first match outside against Davis. Great to see Kelsey pull out the three-setter and we kept batting and competing as hard as we could," said head coach Steve Ascher.

"I'm looking forward to taking the lessons we learned from the match and come out and compete hard versus Sac State on Sunday."

The loss drops the Griz to 3-7 overall while remaining at 1-0 in league play after beating Weber State on the road in mid-February. UC Davis improves to 6-9 on the season and snaps a two-match losing streak.

In doubles, Grace Haugen and Rosie Sterk narrowly missed out on their seventh win of the season as a pair, falling in a tiebreaker on court one 6-7 (6) as the Griz dropped the opening point.

In singles, Philips rebounded from a second set loss to beat Solia Valentine 7-5, 2-6, 10-6, in a third set superbreaker for Montana's only win of the day. Phillips is coming off another three-set win last week, beating her opponent from Seattle U to clinch the win for the Griz over the Redhawks.

UM had two other players push their match to a third set, both from freshmen. Monika Fizova won her first set on court five before dropping the next two, as did Olivia Moir on court six.

Montana now turns its attention to the No. 75-ranked Sac State Hornets as Big Sky Conference play resumes for the Griz on Sunday afternoon in Sacramento.