Griz open Big Sky tourney against defending champion Hornets

The Montana men's tennis team returns to the Big Sky Conference Championship for the 30^th time in the past 32 years this week as the No. 3 seed Grizzlies open the tournament against the defending champion Sacramento State.

At 16-6 on the year and 6-2 in league play, the Griz will look to set a new school record for most wins in a season on Thursday as UM takes on the sixth-seed Hornets (10-11, 3-5 BSC) in the first round starting at 9 a.m. MT (8 a.m. local) at the Phoenix Tennis Center.

Montana enters the tourney as arguably the hottest team in the league on the heels of two-straight 7-0 shutouts of Eastern Washington and Montana State, with the Griz having not lost a set of singles tennis since April 4.

One of the UM's goals every season is to be playing its best when tournament time rolls around. The Griz check that box in 2025 as the only team in the league to post one, let alone two, shutouts against a conference opponent this month.

"We've had an amazing season with a lot of real good highs, a national ranking, tied the school record for wins, we're really happy with it. I hope it wraps-up the way it should, and that's with a championship. That's the goal," said head coach Jason Brown.

"When you come down here, some years you're a long shot, but this year I think we've got a really good chance if we find our best level and come out the way we want to. The guys are ready to go."

COVERAGE: Links to live scoring, the tournament bracket, matchups and more can be found at the Big Sky's Tournament Central website. All matches from the Phoenix Tennis Center begin before the heat of the day sets in at 8 a.m. local time, 9 a.m. Mountain.

GRIZ AT THE TOURNEY: Montana has been a staple of the Big Sky tournament over the years, not qualifying only once for the event in the past 32 years and the Covid pandemic cancelling the event in UM's only other miss during that stretch.

The Griz have made a total of 52 all-time appearances at the tournament, with 17 semifinal and six championship appearances. UM is 3-8 all-time against the perennial powerhouse Hornets in the tourney but holds a 2-1 advantage in first round matches. The Griz claimed their first and only Big Sky tournament championship in 2014, advancing on to play Oklahoma in the NCAA tourney.

THE SEEDS: Despite being tied with Idaho State in the standings at 6-2, Montana takes the No. 3 seed and plays in the first round of the tourney thanks to ISU knocking off the Griz 4-3 in Pocatello to earn the head-to-head advantage.

While Northern Arizona clinched the regular season title at 8-0, the Grizzlies have beaten every other team in the tournament this year, defeating Idaho 5-2 in Missoula, Weber State 4-3 in Ogden, and Sac State 5-2 in Sacramento. Montana and NAU have both posted a league-high 16 overall wins this season, with UM at 16-6 and NAU at 16-8.

2025 Big Sky Tournament Seeds
1. Northern Arizona – 8-0
2. Idaho State – 6-2
3. Montana – 6-2
4. Idaho – 5-3
5. Weber State – 5-3
6. Sacramento State – 3-5

LAST MEETING WITH SAC: Montana took down the defending tournament champs in the league opener in early March with its first win at Sac State since 2018 this season. The Griz beat the Hornets 5-2 on their home courts, winning the doubles round and four of the six singles matches. Eivind Tandberg clinched for the Grizzlies in the match, beating David Dai 7-6 (4), 6-2, on court six.

The match also featured a rare loss for UM No. 1 Tom Bittner who fell in a third set superbreaker to Henry Lamchinnah who finished the year at 14-5 on court one, setting up a likely scintillating rematch against the 12-5 Bittner in Phoenix.

So, what will it take to beat Sac a second time this season?

"Just another focused effort, something very similar to what we had when we went down to Sacramento. I think we've improved a lot since then too, so we just want a focused effort," added Brown.

"We're looking at this as step one of three steps. We want to get off the court as quick as possible, get ready for Friday, and hopefully get ready for Saturday. But it's one step in the journey each day, but we're planning this for the long haul. When we come down here our goal is to win championships. We get step one on Thursday, and we'll go from there."

WIN AND ADVANCE: Should Montana get past Sacramento State the Griz will advance on to face No. 2 seed Idaho State in the semifinal as the highest seeded team to play on day one. The winner of that match advances to the championship match on Saturday.

The Bengals were one of just two teams to beat the Griz in the regular season, fending-off the UM comeback attempt after a win in doubles and bottom of the lineup wins on courts four and six to clinch the 4-3 in Pocatello.

A year ago, it was also Idaho State that eliminated Montana from the tournament with a 4-0 win in the first round. The then-No. 3 seed Bengals earned the doubles point over the six seed Grizzlies before winning three singles matches in straight sets to advance to the semifinal where they were eliminated by eventual champion Sacramento State.

GRIZ TRACKS: Tom Bittner smashed an ace to cap a run of five-straight points for the Griz to clinch a crucial doubles point in a tiebreaker against Montana State, eventually leading to a 7-0 blowout of the in-state rivals in Missoula to earn UM's nomination for Big Sky Player of the Week on Monday.

Bittner also went on to beat Dmitry Bezbordov on court one (6-3, 6-2) to remain undefeated against MSU and earn his sixth-straight Big Sky singles win.

Bittner and his doubles partner Eivind Tandberg were down early in a tiebreaker in the deciding doubles match of the day in the Brawl of the Wild dual. The Grizzly duo then broke the MSU serve and won five consecutive points to take the lead. Bittner clinched the win with a huge ace down the middle to hand UM the 1-0 lead and secure the momentum for the rest of the match.

The German junior has returned to form late in the season, now sitting at 12-5 overall and 6-2 in Big Sky singles this season. He's also 8-6 overall and 5-2 in Big Sky doubles.

• Fellow Grizzly junior Baltazar Wiger-Nordas has also made a major impact for Montana this season as one of the winningest players in the league. The Norwegian enters the tourney at 12-5 overall and 10-3 on court two – the most wins at that position in the conference to date.

• The middle of the Grizzly lineup has also been rock solid with freshman Duncan McCall on court three and junior Eivind Tandberg on court four both entering the tourney with 15 overall wins, which ties them as the winningest players in the league.

• McCall and fellow freshman Johnny Wilkinson have also combined for a 14-7 overall and 4-3 in conference play doubles – another of the league's most victories.

• With singles and doubles combined, McCall has posted 29 wins this season.

University of Montana Athletics

Griz open Big Sky tourney against defending champion Hornets

Players Mentioned

Tom Bittner

Duncan McCall

Eivind Tandberg

Baltazar Wiger-Nordas

Johnny Wilkinson

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