Thursday, January 29
Salt Lake City, Utah
4 PM
Montana
2
vs
5
Utah State
Phillips sweeps as Griz fall to Aggies in Salt Lake
1/29/2026 9:30:00 PM | Women's Tennis
The Montana women's tennis team opened its three match road swing with a competitive 5-2 loss to Utah State on a neutral court in Salt Lake City at the Eccles Tennis Center. The Griz dropped to 0-2 in the early days of the season while Utah State improved to 2-0.
Grizzly No. 1 Kelsey Phillips earned a sweep over her Aggie opponents in both singles and doubles, while Monika Fizova took a singles win of her own to account for UM's two team points.
Phillips, a junior, partnered up with freshman Meghna Anand on court one to shut-out USU's Halvorsen/Abid pair 6-0 to start the doubles round. UM just missed an opportunity to win the opening point when Paige Bott and Kaylin Keilty had their match tied 5-5 on court two, but ended up falling to the Aggies' Mikva/Pintea pair 7-5 as USU earned the opening point.
Utah State clinched the team win in singles with four, straight set wins. Phillips later completed her sweep on the day, rebounding from a second set loss to beat Terezia Mikva in a third set superbreaker 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (5) to get the Griz on the board.
Fizova, a sophomore, then earned Montana's other team point on court three singles, beating Natalie Paterova in another three set superbreaker, 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (8) in a three hour marathon that brought the final score to 5-2.
"That was a good match with Utah State. It was great to see Kelsey and Meghna come out strong in doubles. Kaylin and Paige came up just short in their match as well. We battled well in singles and it was nice to see Kelsey and Monika pull out good three set matches. Their ability to focus and make good choices under pressure was the difference," said head coach Steve Ascher.
Montana now prepares to take on the Utah Utes on Friday starting at 2 p.m. on their home courts at the Eccles Tennis Cetner. The Griz cap the road trip south with a nonconference dual against Idaho State in Pocatello.
Montana vs Utah State Women's Tennis
UM 2, USU 5
Doubles
1 Meghna Anand / Kelsey Phillips (UM) def. Olivia Halvorsen / Nadine Abid (USU) 6-0
2 Terezia Mlkva / Sabina Pintea (USU) def. Paige Bott / Kaylin Kielty (UM) 7-5
3 Natalie Paterova / Maria Ramos Garcia (USU) def. Monika Fizova / Kamila Slovakova (UM) 6-0
Singles
1 Kelsey Phillips (UM) def. Terezia Mlkva (USU) 6-4 2-6 1-0 (10-5)
2 Sabina Pintea (USU) def. Meghna Anand (UM) 6-1 6-3
3 Monika Fizova (UM) def. Natalie Paterova (USU) 7-5 4-6 1-0 (10-8)
4 Chahd Tourkhani (USU) def. Kamila Slovakova (UM) 6-3 6-3
5 Maria Ramos Garcia (USU) def. Paige Bott (UM) 6-2 6-3
6 Nadine Abid (USU) def. Shivika Agrawal (UM) 6-3 6-0
Grizzly No. 1 Kelsey Phillips earned a sweep over her Aggie opponents in both singles and doubles, while Monika Fizova took a singles win of her own to account for UM's two team points.
Phillips, a junior, partnered up with freshman Meghna Anand on court one to shut-out USU's Halvorsen/Abid pair 6-0 to start the doubles round. UM just missed an opportunity to win the opening point when Paige Bott and Kaylin Keilty had their match tied 5-5 on court two, but ended up falling to the Aggies' Mikva/Pintea pair 7-5 as USU earned the opening point.
Utah State clinched the team win in singles with four, straight set wins. Phillips later completed her sweep on the day, rebounding from a second set loss to beat Terezia Mikva in a third set superbreaker 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (5) to get the Griz on the board.
Fizova, a sophomore, then earned Montana's other team point on court three singles, beating Natalie Paterova in another three set superbreaker, 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (8) in a three hour marathon that brought the final score to 5-2.
"That was a good match with Utah State. It was great to see Kelsey and Meghna come out strong in doubles. Kaylin and Paige came up just short in their match as well. We battled well in singles and it was nice to see Kelsey and Monika pull out good three set matches. Their ability to focus and make good choices under pressure was the difference," said head coach Steve Ascher.
Montana now prepares to take on the Utah Utes on Friday starting at 2 p.m. on their home courts at the Eccles Tennis Cetner. The Griz cap the road trip south with a nonconference dual against Idaho State in Pocatello.
Montana vs Utah State Women's Tennis
UM 2, USU 5
Doubles
1 Meghna Anand / Kelsey Phillips (UM) def. Olivia Halvorsen / Nadine Abid (USU) 6-0
2 Terezia Mlkva / Sabina Pintea (USU) def. Paige Bott / Kaylin Kielty (UM) 7-5
3 Natalie Paterova / Maria Ramos Garcia (USU) def. Monika Fizova / Kamila Slovakova (UM) 6-0
Singles
1 Kelsey Phillips (UM) def. Terezia Mlkva (USU) 6-4 2-6 1-0 (10-5)
2 Sabina Pintea (USU) def. Meghna Anand (UM) 6-1 6-3
3 Monika Fizova (UM) def. Natalie Paterova (USU) 7-5 4-6 1-0 (10-8)
4 Chahd Tourkhani (USU) def. Kamila Slovakova (UM) 6-3 6-3
5 Maria Ramos Garcia (USU) def. Paige Bott (UM) 6-2 6-3
6 Nadine Abid (USU) def. Shivika Agrawal (UM) 6-3 6-0
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,3,2
#1 Singles Match
123
621
Terezia Mlkva / 0 [USU]
460
#2 Singles Match
12
13
Sabina Pintea / 0 [USU]
66
#3 Singles Match
123
741
Natalie Paterova / 0 [USU]
560
#4 Singles Match
12
33
Chahd Tourkhani / 0 [USU]
66
#5 Singles Match
12
23
Maria Ramos Garcia / 0 [USU]
66
#6 Singles Match
12
30
Nadine Abid / 0 [USU]
66
Order of Finish:
2,4,6,5,1,3
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
Griz Basketball vs. Idaho State Highlights - 1/24/26 [N7 Game]
Tuesday, January 27
Griz Basketball vs. Weber State Highlights - 1/22/26
Tuesday, January 27
Lady Griz Basketball vs. Northern Arizona Highlights - 1/19/26
Tuesday, January 20
Griz Basketball vs. Northern Colorado Highlights - 1/3/26
Thursday, January 15
