Griz roll Tritons 6-1 as Brown hits century mark

Monday, February 16

Missoula, Mont.

9:30 AM

Montana

UC San Diego

Photo by: Ryan Brennecke / University of Montana

2/16/2026 4:00:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana men's tennis team cruised to a win in the doubles round and didn't look back as the Griz took a decisive 6-1 victory over UC San Diego on Monday at the Peak Racquet Club in Missoula.

UM head coach Jason Brown, the reigning Big Sky and ITA Mountain Region Coach of the Year, earned career win No. 100 as his squad swept five of the six singles matches in straight sets against the Tritons.

Montana now improves to 3-3 on the season while Brown sits at 100-71 in his nine years leading the Griz, and with another win in Missoula improves his home record to a sparkling 47-8 (.855) inside the Peak.

UC San Diego, which lists a 4-3 win over Sac State on its resume this season, falls to 5-5 on the year after going 1-2 on their road trip north. The Tritons came to Missoula from over the Bitterroots in Moscow where they split two weekend matches, beating UTRGV 4-1 in a neutral site dual then falling to Idaho 2-5 inside the Kibbie Dome.

The Griz earned a convincing win over UCSD despite missing the services of their top singles player Tom Bittner, who was limited to doubles on Monday as he recovers from a bout with the flu. With the defending Big Sky Tournament MVP out, the rest of the Grizzly lineup bumped up a position and didn't miss a beat.

"Really proud of the guys today. They had to all move up a spot and were still really good. With a 10-man roster you've got to be deep when colds, injuries and things like that happen. So, I'm just proud of the guys for being adaptable and ready to play. It was a good day for the Griz," said Brown.

"It was a big ask for UC San Diego to come to the Northwest and play three matches in three days. Hats off to them for coming here and putting up a good fight. They're a good team and we hope to get back and play them again next season."

One of the highlights on the day came from freshman Matt Upton who was nearly flawless in both singles and doubles. Upton partnered with senior Eivind Tandberg on court three doubles and dominated UCSD's Adamson/Chunduru pair, allowing the visitors to win just four single points in a 6-0 shutout.

He kept that momentum rolling into singles where he was again clinical against David Adamson, losing just one game in a 6-1, 6-0, blowout to score the first team point for the Griz on court three.

"I think I just played with a lot of conviction today. We've been working on it as a team, just being clear on our game plans, and I think we did that well today," he said after the win.

Upton now improves to 3-3 on the season in singles and picks up his first dual win in doubles, just in time for the Griz as they get set to enter the heart of the season with Big Sky play around the corner.

He and Tandberg were one of two strong showings for UM in the doubles round. The sophomore all-conference duo of Duncan McCall and Johnny Wilkinson also cruised to a 6-1 win on court two over the Beceiro/Worth pair to clinch the doubles point for the Griz.

"That was clearly our best doubles of the season overall, and just outstanding from Matt Upton and Eivind Tandberg. Getting those guys rolling at three dubs is important for our team going forward. So, I'm really happy with that," added Brown.

Montana kept stacking points after the doubles and Upton's speedy singles win. Playing on court one, Baltazar Wiger-Nordas shut-out Prathinav Chunduru in the first set on his way to a quick 6-0, 6-3, win to increase UM's lead to 3-0.

McCall then clinched the Grizzly team victory with another convincing win on court two, beating Abhinav Chunduru 6-3, 6-1, to put Montana up for good 4-0.

The Griz capped the dual with wins in the final two matches of the day at the bottom of the lineup. Joseph Townes stayed unbeaten in singles on the season with a 6-3, 6-2, win over Andrew Beceiro on court five.

Sophomore Moritz Lesjak ground out UM's last win of the day on court six, beating Trey Fourticq in a first set tiebreaker before going on to win the match 7-6 (4), 6-3.

After playing four of their first six matches at home the Griz now prepare for an extended road run with seven events spanning the entire month of March played outside the state of Montana.

Following a weekend sweep of Whitman and UCSD, the Griz are feeling like they enter the meat of the season at full stride.

"I think today was good. We're starting to build some momentum after a tough start, so I think we're looking good for the next few games," said Upton.

The Griz will get a bye week before traveling to Grand Forks for a pair of duals against North Dakota on Feb. 27 and 28, before heading to Boise for the Bronco Spring Invitational Tournament the first week of March.