Griz return home for pair of key league duals

Riding the wave of a five-match win streak, the defending Big Sky Champion Montana men's tennis team returns home after a month on the road for the first of four-straight duals in Missoula this week.

Timing is perfect for the Griz as they return to the friendly confines of the Peak Racquet Club for arguably their biggest matches of the year – a place where they've won 85 percent of their matches in the last nine years.

Montana (9-6, 2-0 BSC) opens the homestand against Weber State (2-10, 1-2 BSC) on Friday, April 3 at 11 a.m. The Grizzlies then cap the weekend with perhaps the premiere match of the season, hosting league-leading Northern Arizona (12-5, 4-0 BSC) in a rematch of last year's Big Sky tournament championship. The Griz and Lumberjacks dual is set for Easter Sunday, April 5, at 9 a.m., and is part of a tennis double-header that day, with the UM women capping the day against Idaho State at 2 p.m.

With a pair of home wins this weekend, Montana will jump start its chances of winning the program's first regular season Big Sky title since 2012 as the business end of the season arrives.

"I think we can take a lot of confidence from five road wins in a row. I'm not sure that's ever happened here before, so we're proud of that effort. It feels nice to be home," said head coach Jason Brown.

"It's a big weekend. It's the start of five-straight conference matches in the leadup to the tournament. We talk all year about peaking in April. Well, it's time to peak at The Peak."

THE MATCHES: Admission to the Peak Racquet Club (located south of Missoula off Blue Mountain Road) is always open to the public and free of charge for Grizzly tennis matches. For those who can't make it, links to live scoring are available on the team's schedule page at GoGriz.com/MTEN. Updates can also be found on the team's social channels @MontanaGrizMTEN.

A GLIMPSE AT THE GRIZ: Montana returns home in the midst of a five match win streak – a run that includes a historic sweep of the D-I teams in Portland and thrilling 4-3 win over Idaho at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow.

Part of that run is fueled by a shuffled lineup that has helped UM claim four-straight doubles points, opening key duals on the right foot with a 1-0 team lead in the round.

Duncan McCall and Baltazar Wiger-Nordas – each All-Big Sky performers a year ago as individuals – have partnered up on court on doubles and have been flawless at 5-0 on court one together. They've followed that up with strong showings on court two, where, as a team, they have an 8-3 doubles record led by Tom Bittner and Eivind Tandberg, who has returned from injury and sits at 4-0 in the second doubles spot.

"Our doubles has been really, really good. Both Duncan and Baltazar have both been winning a lot of singles matches and have really set the tone at one dubs. We're going to need them to keep that up," said Brown.

In singles, Montana has been strong up and down the lineup this season as the depth of the team begins starts to pay dividends.

McCall, the reigning Big Sky Freshman of the Year, has been a consistent winner in both singles and doubles with a team high 9-4 record on the year, holding down the middle of the lineup primarily on courts two and three.

If he was last year's Freshman of the Year, the Griz have another candidate for the award in Matt Upton, who sits at 8-5 on the season and is bouncing back from an injury, as is Tandberg, a senior who has been solid at the bottom of the lineup for the last two years.

"I don't think there's a better four in the conference or even our region if Matt is healthy. Eivind is also back in the singles lineup. He's been really good in the Peak and is really comfortable there, so we're excited to have him back in the mix," added Brown.

Upton's emergence has been complimented by another newcomer's success in junior Joseph Townes, who enters the week at 8-3 overall and is 5-2 on court five. Those two, paired with sophomore Johnny Wilkinson, who has earned multiple wins all over the lineup at 7-5 on the year, is helping make Montana tough to beat from top to bottom.

"We also have some depth, which hasn't necessarily been true in the past. So, we feel good going forward and just happy to be home."

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS: Under longtime head coach Brad Ferreira Weber State comes to Missoula with a mostly new roster and a 2-10 record in the midst of a challenging schedule and a 6-1 a Big Sky win over Portland State two weeks ago.

UM enters the match having won two-straight over the Wildcats dating back to a loss in Ogden in 2023, where UM came out with a 4-3 win last season.

"Matches against Weber are always competitive, always back and forth. We were lucky to get them on the road last year," said Brown.

"Weber has a lot of new guys, but they've had some real close losses, and a nice home win over the Vikings. They fight hard and I'm expecting a battle."

SCOUTING THE LUMBERJACKS: Like Montana, NAU comes to Missoula riding a five match win streak, with road wins at Sac State and Weber State most recently on the record, and a narrow 3-4 loss to No. 71 Denver in Flagstaff prior to that. At 12-5 they sit just above Montana in the current standings and have appeared in the conference title match in six of the last eight seasons.

They've been paced by three players who have 10 or more singles wins each, led by Noa Tcherniack, who holds an impressive 10-2 record on court one and is 13-2 overall.

"NAU has been the premiere team in this conference for a long time, and they win a lot of titles. We have a ton of respect for their coach, their program, and how they do things," said Brown.

"I don't think we need to get up to play our strongest conference opponent. Our guys will be ready for that. We've been looking forward to it, and I'm sure they've been looking to get revenge on us. So, we'll see who has the better day on the court."

UP NEXT: Montana remains at home next week with two more important Big Sky matches, hosting Idaho State (who beat UM this season on a neutral court in Boise) on the morning of April 10, followed by another perennial league power in Sacramento State on April 12. The Griz cap the regular season in Bozeman for the Brawl of the Wild match on April 18.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tom Bittner

Duncan McCall

Eivind Tandberg

Joseph Townes

Matt Upton

Baltazar Wiger-Nordas

Johnny Wilkinson

University of Montana Athletics