Griz drop two duals in Utah

Friday, March 27

St. George, Utah

2 PM

Montana

Utah Tech

3/28/2026 3:20:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana women's tennis team closed out its 2026 nonconference slate with a pair of losses in St. George, Utah over the weekend.

The Griz opened the trip to the desert earning two team points against future Big Sky Conference opponent Utah Tech in a 5-2 loss to the Blazers on their home courts on Friday. On Saturday morning UM capped the trip with a neutral site loss to Tarleton State, falling to the Texans 7-0.

Montana drops to 2-12 on the season following the pair of losses while Utah Tech improved to 9-10 and Tarleton kept its impressive season rolling at 12-5.

The Grizzlies opened the weekend's matches on a high note, picking up tight wins on courts two and three to clinch the doubles point against Utah Tech.

UM fell behind early, but a 7-5 win for Kamila Slovakova and Kate Prichard over the Hendrix/Kells pair wrestled the momentum away on court three. The Griz then claimed the point on court two where Paige Bott and Kaylin Kielty pulled through in a tiebreaker, beating the Inouye/Tsintsadze pair 7-6(4) to put UM up 1-0.

After Utah Tech won the first two singles matches to finish on courts six and four, Kelsey Philips then earned Montana's only win of the day on court one, beating Mariana Zurita in straight sets 6-3, 6-2, to improve to 8-6 in singles this season. The Griz were close to another win on court two where Meghna Anand dropped a second set tiebreaker and a third set superbreaker to Anna Gutierrez, 6-2, 6-7(7), 0-1(8) in a marathon match.

"It was great to see us pull out the doubles point. Kelsey played a solid match, and it was great to see Meghna competing and putting herself in a position to win. We fought hard, but Utah Tech was the better team," said head coach Steve Ascher.

Montana found less success in the neutral site match against Tarleton on Saturday morning, dropping all three doubles matches and each singles match in straight sets, but did make it competitive, winning three games or more in seven of the 12 total sets of tennis.

"The team competed well against Tarleton State today. I think adjusting to the 90-degree heat outside where the ball flies and jumps more took some getting used to. The players brought a lot of energy and showed good adjustments and resolve in competing against a strong college team. I'm proud of the way we continue to learn and grow through these matches with good programs," Ascher added.

Montana now prepares to enter the last leg of the season with three of their final four matches at home. UM hosts Northern Arizona on April 4 at 2 p.m., followed by Idaho State at 2 p.m. on April 5. The Griz then head to Bozeman to face Montana State in the Brawl of the Wild match on April 11 before concluding the season at home against Weber State on April 18.