Griz fall to nationally ranked Hornets in Big Sky dual

Sunday, March 9

Sacramento, Calif.

11 AM (MT)

Montana

Sacramento State

Griz fall to nationally ranked Hornets in Big Sky dual

3/9/2025 4:08:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The nationally ranked Sacramento State Hornets cruised to a 7-0 win over the Montana women's tennis team in Sacramento on Sunday to keep the Griz winless on their two match trip to California.

The Griz fall to 3-8 on the season and now sit 1-1 in Big Sky Conference action after beating Weber State on the road two weeks ago. The Hornets, who entered the week ranked No. 75 in the latest ITA rankings, improve to 9-2 overall and are now 1-0 in league play.

Montana did get one victory on the day, with Grace Haugen and Rosie Sterk earning their eighth win of the season as a pair on court one doubles. The Grizzly duo improved to 8-3 and snapped a two-match losing streak, coming from behind for a 7-5 win over Sac's Ejsmont/Saulevich pair.

It was one way traffic for the Hornets on all the other courts in both singles and doubles, however, as the home team ran past Montana in straight sets at each position.

"Playing Sac State was like taking a master's level college course. There's just so much information we need to take away from the class and learn from. I'm excited to see how we move forward and what we gain from this match knowing the Big Sky women's tennis teams are solid across our conference. Today was a learning experience, and we can gain a lot of lessons to work and grow from," said head coach Steve Ascher.

"It was also fun to watch Grace and Rosie come back from 1-4 in their doubles match and pull out a solid 7-5 win."

Montana will now prepare for its first home match of the season in a week's time as the Griz host Portland State on March 16 at the Peak Racquet Club in Missoula. UM will be looking for a degree of revenge against the Vikings after PSU edged the Griz 4-2 on a neutral court nonconference match in Eugene in mid-January.

The Grizzlies will have the luxury of getting comfortable at home as they prepare to earn a top-six seed at the Big Sky tourney with four of the next seven matches set to be played in Missoula, all of which are league ties.