Griz face key road test at Idaho

The rubber meets the road for the Montana men's tennis team this week as the Grizzlies face perhaps their biggest Big Sky challenge of the season to open a two match trip to the Palouse.

Bolstered with momentum coming off a historic sweep in Portland, the Griz (7-8, 1-0 BSC) head to Moscow for an evenly-matched dual against the Idaho Vandals (7-11, 2-0 BSC) on Friday at 1 p.m. (MT) in one of the most unique and challenging tennis venues in America: the Kibbie Dome.

Montana then caps the trip with its final nonconference dual of the season on Saturday, taking on 6-6 Lewis-Clark State – fresh off an upset of Sacramento State – at the LCSC Tennis Center in Lewiston.

In an effort to repeat as Big Sky champions in 2026, Montana has been challenging itself in the leadup to conference play with four duals against some of the top ranked teams in the region. The strategy has started to pay dividends as the Griz head to Idaho as winners of three straight.

Those three? An always-challenging league win at Portland State, UM's first-ever win over the University of Portland, and a narrow nonconference, neutral-site, 4-3 win over the very same Vandals at the Boise State Spring Invitational.

Idaho enters the match in the midst of its own challenging schedule this season, coming off a pair of Big Sky wins over Idaho State (5-2) and Sacramento State (7-0) in the Kibbie Dome, with other strong performances at New Mexico and No. 56 Gonzaga. They've also put up similar scores against common UM opponents with a 3-4 loss to North Dakota (who UM split with), and a 5-2 win over UC San Diego (who UM beat 6-1).

Another similarity between the two came on Wednesday, when UM's Baltazar Wiger-Nordas was named co-Big Sky Player of the Week with UI's Chetanna Amadike, who, like Wiger-Nordas, swept his opponents in singles and doubles in league wins over ISU and Sac State.

All that to say Montana and Idaho are evenly matched and shaping up to be the cream of the Big Sky Conference crop this season. If the Griz are to rise to the top, they'll have to overcome a tough Vandal squad and a tough environment, one that was host to a 6-1 loss in UM's last visit to Moscow.

"I think Idaho might be playing some of the best tennis in the Big Sky right now," said head coach Jason Brown.

"It's very tricky to play tennis inside a football stadium, but I think the guys are up for the challenge. I think we know what we need to do and we'll be ready to go. We know the importance of these conference matches. So, we're excited to get to go compete."

COVERAGE: Fans can tune in to live coverage of both matches this weekend. Idaho will provide a live stream of the match in the Kibbie Dome on ESPN+, while LC State will have a live stream as well as live scoring. Links to coverage can be found on UM's team schedule page at GoGriz.com/MTEN.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Wiger-Nordas went undefeated in singles and doubles to lead Montana to a historic pair of wins over Portland (UM's first) and Portland State last week and was named Big Sky Conference Player of the Week for the second time in his career on Wednesday.

The Pilots, a traditionally strong team in the competitive WCC, have only lost two matches to a team from the Big Sky in the last decade. Montana made it a third with a 5-2 win, the largest margin of victory ever for a team from the Big Sky inside UP's Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center.

Wiger-Nordas and Duncan McCall opened the weekend with a 6-4 doubles win over Portland's Fernando/Keremedechiev pair – the reigning WCC Doubles Team of the Week. That win on court one set the tone for the Griz, who went on to clinch the doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead over the Pilots. The native of Bergen, Norway, then took down Tom Garcia in straight sets on court two, winning 6-3, 6-3, in the first singles win of the day for UM as the Griz went on to a 5-2 victory.

Against Portland State, Wiger-Nordas and McCall again led UM to a doubles point with a 6-4 win on court one over the Cravenzola/Schotanus pair. He then followed that up with another straight-set win on court two, beating Maas Schotanus 6-4, 6-4, for the first of four UM singles wins en-route to a 5-2 league win for the Griz.

A GLIMPSE AT THE GRIZ: McCall, has been one of UM's most consistent winners again this season. The reigning Big Sky Freshman of the Year clinched the Grizzlies' win over Portland State last week to move to 7-4 in singles on the season. He's also moved up to court one doubles and partnered with Wiger-Nordas in a new combo that has been working for the Griz, now at 3-0 together.

Montana has another candidate for Freshman of the Year in the making with the emergence of Matt Upton, who heads to Idaho with the team's most singles wins at 8-4 this season and 7-2 in UM's last 10 outings.

Fellow newcomer Joseph Townes, a junior transfer from the University of New Orleans, has also come on as a reliable win at the bottom of the UM lineup at 7-3 on the season and 5-2 on court five. Sophomore Johnny Wilkinson has also helped keep the lower order ticking over wins at 7-3 overall in singles, winning equally on courts four through six.

UP NEXT: After a month on the road the Griz finally return to Missoula for the home stretch of the regular season, with four of their final five duals all coming in the friendly confines of the Peak Racquet Club. The Griz open the home stand against Weber State on April 3, and a rematch of last year's Big Sky tournament championship against Northern Arizona on April. 5.

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Players Mentioned

Duncan McCall

Joseph Townes

Matt Upton

Baltazar Wiger-Nordas

Johnny Wilkinson

University of Montana Athletics