Griz return home for pair of weekend duals

The Montana men's tennis team looks to get back on the winning track with a pair of home nonconference matches this holiday weekend.

The Griz (1-3) will look to show no love to Whitman (0-0) in Valentines Day dual on Saturday morning, with opening serves starting at 10:30 a.m. They follow that up with a President's Day campaign against UC San Diego (4-3) on Monday at 9:30 a.m.

Both matches will be played at the Peak Racquet Club, located off Blue Mountain Road south of Missoula. Admission to the Peak is free of charge and open to the public. Links to follow live scoring are available at GoGriz.com/LiveStats for those unable to attend.

Montana has a stellar 91-percent win rate inside the friendly confines of the Peak over the last decade, despite home matches being a rarity for the Griz. UM will play its last two home matches until April this weekend, giving fans a chance to see the defending Big Sky champs up close and personal, and for UM to lock-in for conference action.

"It's good to be home. This is where some important matches in the Big Sky are going to happen for us this season, so it's good to get some more reps here," said head coach Jason Brown.

"Whitman is a D-III powerhouse in the Northwest and historically the best team in their conference. They're a sharp bunch and always a challenge. Having UCSD here is a treat for us because a lot of these SoCal teams don't travel much, so we're excited to see them inside the Peak. I think both matches will be really good quality and good tests for us as we get more toward the middle of the schedule."

GRIZ TRACKS: Montana returns home following a tough two match road trip to Colorado where the Griz fell to a pair of the top five teams in the Mountain Region with a neutral site dual against Utah and a true road match against Denver at DU. UM had its chances against the Utes but fell in a 4-0 match played to clinch, and was generally overpowered by the Pioneers in a 1-6 loss that saw UM newcomer Joseph Townes earn his second singles win as a Grizzly.

Duncan McCall leads UM with a 2-1 record in singles and doubles, along with his partner Johnny Wilkinson. UM aces Tom Bittner and Baltazar Wiger-Nordas have also been outstanding in doubles at 3-1 as a pair so far this season.

Montana beat Whitman 7-0 in Missoula nearly a year ago to the day last season, but has never faced UCSD in a dual. The Griz did get a good look at the Tritons in the fall tournament season, however, traveling to California to take place in UCSD's Triton Invitational.

SCOUTING THE BLUES: Montana will serve as Whitman's 2026 spring season opener as the Blues enter the year looking to repeat as Northwestern Conference Champions and punch their ticket to the NCAA D-III tournament for a second-straight year.

Led by veteran coach Jeff Northam, now in his 28^th year with the program, The Blues are paced by No. 1 Alexander Stage, who went 16-5 last year and is ranked the No. 10 singles player in all of D-III tennis.

SCOUTING THE TRITONS: UC San Diego makes its first ever trip to Missoula on Monday at 4-3 on the season – a record that will change between now and then and give the Griz a solid litmus test for the conference season ahead. UCSD heads north for three matches this week, first traveling to Moscow for a match against Idaho and a neutral site dual against UTRGV on Saturday and Sunday before facing the Griz on Monday. UM already has one result to compare the Tritons to, with UCSD knocking off Big Sky foe Sacramento State in mid-January 4-3 at home in La Jolla. The Tritons entered the season coming off a 7-14 season where they advanced to the Big West Semifinal after beating Cal Poly in the quarterfinal and falling to the nationally-ranked UC Santa Barbara.

Timmer Willing is in his 14^th season with the program at UCSD as head coach. Senior Zach Pellouchoud leads the Tritons at 5-0 on courts two and three this season in singles, with David Adamson holding down the bottom of the lineup at 4-1 in singles on courts five and six.

UP NEXT: Montana renews a regional rivalry with a pair of road matches against North Dakota in Grand Forks on Feb. 27 and 28 before heading to Boise for a spring tournament the first weekend in March. UM opens Big Sky play at Portland State on March 15 and returns home to face Weber State on April 3.

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Players Mentioned

Tom Bittner

Duncan McCall

Joseph Townes

Baltazar Wiger-Nordas

Johnny Wilkinson

University of Montana Athletics