Griz set to embark on challenging 2025-26 schedule

To the victors go the spoils.

The defending Big Sky Champion Montana men's tennis team will face one of the most challenging schedules in program history this year with new opportunities for the Grizzlies to compete against some of the nation's best in the fall, and an exciting slate of eight home matches in the spring. Head coach Jason Brown, the ITA Mountain Region Coach of the Year, rolled out his squad's 2025-26 schedule on Friday.

With two returning players regionally ranked and one earning the program's first ATP Tour points this summer, for the first time ever Montana will get a shot at qualifying for the ITA All-American Championships, set for Sept. 20-28 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Also highlighting the fall tournament schedule is a trip to San Diego, where the Griz will have their first shot at qualifying an individual for the NCAA Fall Singles and Doubles Championships at the Conference Masters tourney. While in California the Grizzlies not competing for a trip to nationals will play in a hidden duals tournament at UCSD.

In the spring season, the Tritons from San Diego will make their first visit to Missoula and Utah State makes the trip north as the Griz host four nonconference and four Big Sky duals at the Peak Racquet Club. Montana will benefit from a home court advantage against some of the perennial top teams in the league as UM goes for a second-straight title.

"The thing I like the most about this team is that last year they were asking for a harder schedule, and they're okay with the challenge of getting better throughout the season," said Brown.

"We're bringing back 80 percent of the Big Sky championship team, so I think we have a chance to really cement a legacy as one of the best squads to ever do it here at Montana on the tennis court. That's what the goal is for these guys. Playing some of these bigger tournaments, I think will set us up for that success in the spring as well."

Montana opens the fall tournament season in familiar territory, traveling to Boise on Sept. 12 to compete in the Dar Walters Classic, a staple of the autumn calendar for many of the top programs in the area.

The Broncos are coming off a strong season of their own, putting together a 21-6 season, clinching the Mountain West regular season title, and advancing to the NCAA tournament where they lost at Cal in the first round.

"Boise State has been doing great things with their tennis program. This tournament is always good exposure for almost the entire team, and it will be a good way to kick off the season a little early this year," said Brown.

A week later Montana travels to Pocatello where the Griz will once again get an early peek at the Big Sky competition at Idaho State's Bengal Invitational.

The stakes then get higher for the Griz starting Sept. 20 as the two top returning players on the squad – Tom Bittner (the No. 9 ranked singles player in the Mountain Region) and Baltazar Wiger-Nordas (No. 20 singles and No. 10 doubles) – stand in contention to play at the ITA's All-American tournament in Tulsa.

The All-American tourney, a massive, 256-man draw of the best players in the nation, takes place over 10 days in Oklahoma, with Bittner and Wiger-Nordas needing to continue their strong recent string of performances to qualify for the trip. A top eight finish in Tulsa could send one of the Grizzly representatives through to the NCAA Fall Championships.

"Those two are both coming off fantastic seasons and have been playing well all summer. Being regionally ranked is something our program hasn't seen much of. So, I'm excited to take them there to Tulsa and see what they can do," Brown added.

The Griz then regroup as a team to travel south to Las Vegas for what is traditionally the premiere event on the fall calendar – the ITA Mountain Regionals. This year's regional tourney is hosted by UNLV and gets underway Oct. 15. Montana then stays local for a tournament at Montana State, set for Oct. 24 in Bozeman.

The Griz then cap the fall tourney season on Nov. 6 with a par of events in California.

Bittner and Wiger-Nordas will get one more opportunity to qualify for the NCAA championships at the Conference Masters Tournament, featuring representatives from leagues around the nation. The Big Sky's representatives will be selected by a vote from coaches this year, and with UM's dynamic duo currently sitting as the highest ranked pair in the league, chances are good they'll get the call.

"Hopefully one will be the top singles player and they'll both be the top doubles team with some good performances throughout the fall. I'd love to see those guys as seniors – a couple of the all-time greats to do it here – get into the NCAA championships. That's a big goal for the fall, to be honest, is to see if we can get them some more exposure on a national level," said Brown.

While in San Diego the remaining Griz will compete in UCSD's hidden duals, featuring premiere teams from around the Pacific coast region.

"I think that's a great way to wrap up fall, and a great reward for these guys as champions. We had a lot of support from boosters to help facilitate that as well. So it's a nice shout out to people supporting tennis and knowing how important it is to our athletic department, and these guys as champs," Brown added.

Montana will then start the quest to go back-to-back in conference titles as the Griz kick off the spring duals schedule on Jan. 25 in Missoula against Utah State for the first of eight home matches.

The Griz hold an astounding 44-7 home record under Brown in his seven years leading the team.

The Grizzlies follow up that match against the Aggies with a home dual against Whitworth on Feb. 1 before traveling to the Front Range for matches against Denver and Utah in the Mile High City.

They then return to Missoula for another pair of duals, hosting Whitman on Valentine's Day and UC San Diego in a first-time dual on Feb. 16.

After playing on the road for virtually the entire month of March, Montana finishes the regular season with four of the last five duals on the schedule all played at the Peak in Missoula.

The Griz will get perennial powers Weber State and Northern Arizona the weekend of April 3 and 5 in Missoula, with a rematch of last year's conference title dual against the Lumberjacks. They then host Idaho State and Sacramento State a week later on April 10 and 12 before closing the regular season in Bozeman against MSU on April 18.

"We put together some road matches that are going to be really challenging. North Dakota and Creighton on the road, Denver and University of Utah - both nationally ranked teams on the road. But we're also excited to get more home matches than we've had in a lot of seasons. I think that's because teams want to play us. Our guys are classy, and they play hard," said Brown.

"We've got some great, competitive, and fun nonconference matches in the spring too with Utah State coming up and UC San Diego making the trip north. I'd like to start getting more home and home matches, and UCSD being willing to come up first is a really cool thing for University of Montana tennis. Our goal is to start playing more quality programs around the western US."

FALL TOURNAMENTS

Date	Opponent	Location
9/12	Dar Walters Classic	Boise, Idaho
9/19	Bengal Invitational	Pocatello, Idaho
9/20	ITA All-American Championships	Tulsa, Okla.
10/15	ITA Mountain Regional	Las Vegas, Nev.
10/24	Bobcat Invitational	Bozeman, Mont.
11/6	UCSD Hidden Duals	San Diego, Calif.
11/6	NCAA Conference Masters	San Diego, Calif.

SPRING DUALS

Date	Opponent	Location
1/25	Utah State	Missoula, Mont.
2/1	Whitworth	Missoula, Mont.
2/7	Denver	Denver, Colo.
2/8	Utah	Denver, Colo.
2/14	Whitman	Missoula, Mont.
2/16	UC San Diego	Missoula, Mont.
2/27	North Dakota	Grand Forks, N.D.
2/28	Creighton	Grand Forks, N.D.
3/6	Boise State Spring Tournament	Boise, Idaho
3/13	Portland	Portland, Ore.
3/15	Portland State*	Portland, Ore.
3/20	Idaho*	Moscow, Idaho
3/22	Lewis-Clark State	Lewiston, Idaho
4/3	Weber State*	Missoula, Mont.
4/5	Northern Arizona*	Missoula, Mont.
4/10	Idaho State*	Missoula, Mont.
4/12	Sacramento State*	Missoula, Mont.
4/18	Montana State*	Bozeman, Mont.
4/23	Big Sky Championship	Phoenix, Ariz.

*= Big Sky Conference match

University of Montana Athletics

Players Mentioned

Tom Bittner

Baltazar Wiger-Nordas

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