Griz open season against Utah State Sunday in Missoula

Sunday, January 25

Missoula, Mont.

10:30 AM

Montana

Utah State

Griz open season against Utah State Sunday in Missoula

1/23/2026 3:13:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Match Program

By: Montana Sports Information

While most UM students were spending winter break enjoying some of mom's home cooking and recharging for the semester ahead, Montana tennis standout Duncan McCall was doing perhaps the best prep for a spring season that any college athlete could ask for.

McCall, the reigning Big Sky Freshman of the Year, spent the back half of his winter break down under serving as a hitting partner for former world No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov as he advanced to the round of 16 at the Brisbane International, a precursor tournament to the Australian Open.

Now two weeks later McCall and his Grizzly teammates are back in Montana, ready to kick start the spring dual season as UM begins its quest to repeat as Big Sky champions and return to the NCAA tournament.

The Griz – picked first in the league's preseason poll – get an early challenge on Sunday morning against one of the top teams in the west as UM opens the season against Utah State at the Peak Racquet Club in Missoula at 10:30 a.m.

"It was cool to learn from him (Dimitrov) and just to be around a professional tournament was pretty inspiring. I'm excited to be able to compete after that experience," said McCall

"After last year, I've been waiting to play in the spring duals season. It's my favorite form of tennis. I've played a lot of individual tournaments, but nothing compares with going out to battle with the boys. So, I'm super excited to for Sunday."

Montana (0-0) is coming off the best season in program history, racking up a 19-7 record (the most wins ever at UM), an undefeated season at home (5-0), the Big Sky Tournament Championship, and just the team's second appearance ever in the NCAA Tournament.

Utah State (1-1) comes to Missoula for its second road trop of the season at .500 after splitting duals in Arizona last week. USU beat Wichita State 5-2 in a neutral site dual then fell to Arizona State 1-6 in the desert.

The two programs have been closely competitive over the last few years, with UM dropping a dual to the Aggies 2-5 in Logan last year that included a doubles round win and a win on court one singles.

Montana would go on to win the Big Sky tourney later that season, while USU bowed out of the Mountain West tourney in the semis at 15-9. When the regional rankings came out at the end of the year Montana was slotted as high as it has ever been at No. 7. Right in front of them at No. 6? Utah State.

"For me, they're as well a coach a team as we have in the region and are traditionally challenging for a Mountain West title. We're going to get everything we want from them, and it's going to be a great litmus test for us. If we're playing at a great level against Utah State, we'll be ready for the challenges ahead," said head coach Jason Brown.

WELCOME TO THE PEAK: Montana's match against the Aggies begins with the doubles round at 10:30 a.m., immediately followed by the singles round. Admission to the Peak is free of charge and open to the public. The Peak Racquet Club is located off Blue Mountain Road, south of Missoula. Links to follow live scoring are available at GoGriz.com/LiveStats for those unable to attend.

GRIZ TRACKS: Montana enters the season led by Brown, the 2025 ITA Mountain Region Coach of the Year (a first for UM), and the Big Sky Conference co-Coach of the Year. Brown, a native of Conrad, is now in his ninth year coaching at his alma mater, coming into the dual season with a 97-67 overall record, a 36-22 Big Sky record and a sparkling 44-7 home record in Missoula

PICKED TO WIN: In a calendar year full of firsts, the Grizzlies were selected as the outright favorite to win the Big Sky Conference by the league's coaches in the annual preseason poll for the first time in program history earlier in January.

As UM opens the season for the first of 20 duals between now and the conference championship tournament in late April, the Grizzlies know there is much to do in order to live up to those lofty expectations.

"We're excited to be the preseason favorite, but our challenge will be keeping things process driven throughout the season. We can't win a championship in January or February or March, for that matter. So, we've tried to make the schedule a little tougher. We got some really challenging matches, starting with Utah State," said Brown.

"We've talked about how tennis is not an undefeated sport. We're going to lose some matches as players, lose some doubles points. We're likely going to lose as a team here and there, hopefully early, not later in the season. We're going to try to get any of those out of the way."

TOM ON TOP: If there were a preseason Big Sky MVP award, you'd be hard pressed to find a more worthy candidate than Grizzly No. 1 Tom Bittner. The senior from Neusaess, Germany, enters his final season at UM looking to cement his status as the Greatest to ever play for the Griz, and already has the resume to support it.

Bittner finished his junior campaign as the highest ranked player ever for UM in the Mountain Region at No. 9 after being named Big Sky Tournament MVP in UM's championship run, a first-team All-Big Sky pick for the second-straight year, and the ITA's regional "Player to Watch" for the coming season.

He also created more history in the fall as the Big Sky representative at the ITA Conference Masters tournament, beating Roger Pascual, the No. 1 player from the 2024 national champion and last year's runner-up TCU Horned Frogs in the first round of the consolation draw. He followed that up with a win over DePaul's Alejandro Gandini, the defending Big East Conference Player of the Year, in the quarterfinal.

PUSHING FOR THE TOP SPOT: Montana's preseason favorite roster is not just one man, however. The Griz have others who will be vying for the top position as well. Baltazar Wiger-Nordas was a first-team All-Big Sky singles pick last year as well and joined Bittner in the ITA regional rankings at No. 20 in singles and No. 10 in doubles. He became UM's first ever player to earn ATP Tour points over the summer after a series of solid performances on the European circuit.

• McCall is also back to compete for a top spot. After being named the league's Freshman of the Year and clinching two of UM's victories at the conference tournament, the All-Big Sky second team singles pick and doubles honorable mention with fellow sophomore Johnny Wilkinson will vie for a place toward the top of the lineup.

"I think it's important to start out with the right process. We want to be playing with no fear, just going out there and battling as a group like we're going to war to set the tone. Yeah, the result is important, but it's a long season. We've got to make sure we're playing with the right intent if we want to go far this year," said McCall of this week's match with USU.

• The Grizzlies also have another up-and-comer on the roster that is poised to make a run for the 2026 Freshman of the Year award in Matt Upton, who made waves this fall in his first semester at UM with a 12-3 singles record over the course of four tournaments. Also back this season is senior Eivind Tandberg who has earned plenty of quality wins for the Griz at six last year, sophomore Moritz Lesjak who was the only Grizzly on his way to a win over his opponent from Texas in the NCAA tourney, Wilkinson who was a doubles all-conference pick last season at 16-9 on the year, and junior transfer Joseph Townes out of the University of New Orleans, among others.

UP NEXT: Montana continues nonconference play with a home doubleheader a week from Sunday as the Griz host the Whitworth Pirates for a pair of duals starting at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Feb. 1 at the Peak.