(Editor’s Note: Story by Montana Sports Information)
MISSOULA- Griz take care of business against Bears
The Montana men’s tennis team kept its train rolling toward the Big Sky championship tournament on Friday with a dominant 7-0 win over Northern Colorado (10-11, 1-8 BSC) at the Peak Racquet Club in Missoula.
The Grizzlies improved to 6-2 in conference play (9-5 overall) and did not see a blemish on the scoresheet with an easy win in the doubles round and straight-set wins on five of the six singles courts.
“I think we put in a clean, professional effort against a determined team,” said interim head coach Jason Brown “They had nothing to lose coming in here, but we were able to take care of business. Now we need to look ahead to Portland State.”
The Bears from Colorado came out energetic in the doubles round, taking the first game on all three courts. It wouldn’t take the Griz long to regain their focus, however, with Alexander Canellopoulos and Ludvig Hallgren running out a 6-2 win.
Yannick Schmidl and Max Korkh then clinched the point with a 6-3 win on court two, the sixth-straight win for the pair since joining forces in late March.
Canellopoulos’s momentum from yesterday’s upset over Idaho to the singles round against UNC, cruising to a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Nick Wade on court four to extend Montana’s lead to 2-0.
Ignacio Tejerina then rebounded from a loss to Idaho to put UM up 3-0 with his first-ever win on court three, a clean 6-1, 6-1 victory over Michael Kritzinger.
Schmidl clinched the match with his sixth Big Sky singles win of the season, beating UNC’s Connor Finerty 6-4, 6-2 to give the Griz the overall win.
The Griz now turn their attention to Portland State on Sunday morning.
The Vikings travel to Missoula loaded with confidence after eliminating Montana State from Big Sky tournament contention with a narrow 4-3 win over the Bobcats in Bozeman for the first time in school history.
PSU will need to beat the Grizzlies to earn the program’s first berth in the conference championship.
Montana 7, Northern Colorado 0
4/13/2018 at Missoula, Mont. (Peak Racquet Club)
Singles competition
1. SCHMIDL, Yannick (UM) def. Finerty, Connor (NC) 6-4, 6-2
2. CASADEVALL, Victor (UM) def. Pease, Kyle (NC) 6-4, 6-3
3. TEJERINA, Ignacio (UM) def. Kritzinger, Michael (NC) 6-1, 6-1
4. CANELLOPOULOS, Alex (UM) def. Wade, Nick (NC) 6-1, 6-0
5. KORKH, Max (UM) def. Exsted, Alex (NC) 6-4, 6-4
6. HALLGREN, Ludvig (UM) def. King, Cassell (NC) 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 (10-7)
Doubles competition
1. CASADEVALL, Victor/TEJERINA, Ignacio (UM) vs. King, Cassell/Finerty, Connor (NC) 5-3, unfinished
2. SCHMIDL, Yannick/KORKH, Max (UM) def. Pease, Kyle/Wade, Nick (NC) 6-3
3. CANELLOPOULOS, Alex/HALLGREN, Ludvig (UM) def. Kritzinger, Michael/Exsted, Alex (NC) 6-2
Match Notes
Northern Colorado 10-11 (1-8 BSC)
Montana 9-5 (6-2 BSC)
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (4,3,1,2,5)
Official: Schwartz/Delman T-3:10 A-15
