Griz return home for first of final two matches in regular season

The Montana men's tennis team enters the home stretch of the regular season with the first of two consecutive matches in Missoula over the next two weeks, starting with a rematch against the Eastern Washington Eagles on Saturday.

Montana returns home after falling narrowly to Idaho State in Pocatello 4-3 last week but still holds a shot at remaining undefeated at home and clinching the No. 2 seed at this year's Big Sky championship tournament in Phoenix later this month.

The Griz enter the EWU match at 14-6 overall and 4-2 in conference play with opening serves going up at 9 a.m. in the friendly confines of The Peak Racquet Club, located south of town off Blue Mountain Road.

The Eagles, meanwhile, come to Missoula at 4-15 overall and 1-4 in league play, seeking to wrap-up their final season as a program on a high note after the school announced it would be dissolved at the end of the academic year.

Montana enters the match sitting second in the league standings but will need some help from Idaho if the Griz are to clinch the all-important second seed at the tournament.

With Idaho, Idaho State, and Montana all sitting at two conference losses, the Griz hold a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Vandals after beating them two weeks ago in Missoula, but ISU now holds the head-to-head over UM thanks to last week's loss. Idaho travels to Idaho State this week with the Griz needing to finish the year unbeaten at home and a Vandal win in Pocatello to secure a first-round bye.

Adding to the intrigue of Saturday's match is a rematch element, with UM and EWU having already squared off this season in a nonconference dual in Cheney in early February. In that match, the shorthanded Griz started with a win in doubles, but had to battle their way back to a dual victory, pulling away late to beat the Eagles 4-3.

"One of the things we preach is to control the controllables, and one of those controllables is to take care of business at home. Eastern Washington has seen some struggles this season but they're much improved. They're going to come in here with nothing to lose. They've got some seniors that want to go out on a high note with some wins and they can come in here and swing for the fences. So, we're definitely not overlooking them. They've always had some talent, and they've put it together in spots this year." said head coach Jason Brown.

"We're going to have to be ready for them and look to erase that bad day we had in Pocatello where we didn't play our best last week. We want to make the rest of April about finding our best tennis."

DOUBLE YOUR FUN: The Griz/Eagles dual is part of a Montana tennis doubleheader on Saturday, with the men's team opening the action at 9 a.m. followed by the Grizzly women capping the day with the annual Brawl of the Wild match against Montana State at 2 p.m. Both matches at The Peak are open to the public and free of charge.

COVERAGE: Links to live scoring for both duals can be found at the team's schedule page at GoGriz.com.

UP NEXT: The Montana men cap the regular season with the annual rivalry match against Montana State on Saturday, April 19, at 1:30 p.m. at The Peak.

GRIZ TRACKS:
• The Peak Racquet Club has been home sweet home for the Griz under Brown, entering Saturday's match with a sparkling 42-7 record in his eight seasons at the helm of the Grizzly program. The 2018 Big Sky Coach of the Year is 92-66 overall and 34-22 in conference play during his eight-year tenure.

• Tom Bittner has found his return to form over the last several weeks, entering the EWU match at 10-4 in singles on the year, which is tied for the third most wins on court one in the league. The junior is riding a four-match win streak and won back-to-back Big Sky Player of the Week honors earlier this month after clinching UM's win at Weber State in dramatic fashion and going undefeated in singles and doubles against Portland State and Idaho.

• Duncan McCall is making a strong case for Big Sky Freshman of the Year in his first season with the Griz as one of only three players in the league to rack-up 13 wins this season at 13-5 heading into the EWU match.

• McCall and fellow freshman Johnny Wilkinson are also on pace for first team all-conference honors in doubles this season as the only pairing in the league with 13 wins to their names at 13-6. Combine the rounds, and McCall is the winningest overall player in the Big Sky with a total of 26 victories this season.

• Junior Eivind Tandberg has also been one of the most prolific singles players in the league this year, holding down the bottom of the Grizzly lineup with a 13-6 record, primarily on court four.

Griz return home for first of final two matches in regular season

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Players Mentioned

Tom Bittner

Duncan McCall

Eivind Tandberg

Johnny Wilkinson

University of Montana Athletics