(Editor’s note: University of Montana athletics release)
MISSOULA and CHENEY, Wash. — The Montana women’s tennis team dropped their final home match of the season to second-ranked Northern Arizona 6-1 after being depleted from a thriller with Weber State the day prior.
“NAU is a good team, we need to continue to work, recognize certain moments and keep getting better,” said head coach Steve Ascher. “This wasn’t one of our best performances.”
The Griz celebrated seniors Nathalie Joanlanne and Lidia Dukic before the match and hoped to ride momentum heading into doubles competition, but weren’t able to sustain the energy.
Sophomores Julia Ronneyand Bianca Bostrom couldn’t strike up the same outcome from Saturday, losing 6-3 for the first finish of the morning. Joanlanne and freshman Alex Walker also fall 6-3 for the Lumberjacks to take the first point.
NAU then showed its strength in the singles round, with UM losing the first set in five out of their six matches. Dunlap showed pose after dropping her first set 6-0 but came up short in the second set 6-3 for the first loss in singles play for the Grizzlies.
Bostrom couldn’t find her rhythm in a 6-4, 6-1 loss that put Northern Arizona up 3-0 with four more matches left. Joanlanne also struggled in her first set going down 6-0 before attempting a comeback that fell short, clinching the match for the Lumberjacks.
On court one, Ronney faced off against Northern Arizona’s Chiara Tomasetti, who was a perfect 17-0 in singles competition and only had one match on the season that went into a third set. Ronney responded after dropping the first set to go ahead in the second 4-3 but ultimately lost the match 6-3, 7-5. The UM sophomore became only the second player in Big Sky action to win more than two games in a set off Tomasetti.
Dukic attempted to comeback after going ahead in the second set but couldn’t finish on court two 6-2, 7-6. Freshman Claudia Reguant won the only match for Montana after taking the first set and winning on a super breaker 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (10-7)
“Claudia has been working hard in practices and individual sessions. As a freshman there is always a lot to take in and a lot to work through, it’s nice see it come to fruition,” said Ascher.
Montana falls to 3-6 in Big Sky Conference play and travels to Bozeman on Saturday to face rival Montana State in their last match of the season.
Northern Arizona 6, Montana 1
4/14/2019 at Missoula, Mont. (Peak Racquet Club)
Singles competition
1. Chiara Tomasetti (NAU) def. RONNEY, Julia (UM) 6-3, 7-5
2. Hanneke Lodewijks (NAU) def. DUNLAP, Lauren (UM) 6-0, 6-3
3. Ellie Millard (NAU) def. BOSTROM, Bianca (UM) 6-4, 6-1
4. Adrianna Sosnowska (NAU) def. JOANLANNE, Nathalie (UM) 6-0, 6-4
5. Emilie Haakansson (NAU) def. DUKIC, Lidia (UM) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
6. REGUANT, Claudia (UM) def. Madi Moore (NAU) 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (10-7)
Doubles competition
1. Chiara Tomasetti/Adrianna Sosnowska (NAU) def. RONNEY, Julia/BOSTROM, Bianca (UM) 6-3
2. DUNLAP, Lauren/DUKIC, Lidia (UM) vs. Ellie Millard/Hanneke Lodewijks (NAU) 4-5, unfinished
3. Emilie Haakansson/Madi Moore (NAU) def. WALKER, Alex/JOANLANNE, Nathalie (UM) 6-3
With only one match on the schedule this week, the extra rest didn’t do the Montana men’s tennis team any favors with the Griz dropping a 5-2 decision to Eastern Washington in Cheney on Sunday.
Montana (7-12, 4-4 BSC) started slow with a loss in the doubles round and couldn’t recover in the singles, dropping three of its top four matches in straight sets, handing the Eagles (4-14, 2-7 BSC) just their second Big Sky win of the season.
“Today proved that you cannot play poorly on the road and win a conference tennis match. We let a few prime opportunities slip away today early and then momentum against us took over,” said head coach Jason Brown.
“It was an incredibly disappointing result, but Eastern came out very loose and played like they had nothing to lose. They deserved to win today.”
Freshmen Oisin Shaffrey and Pontus Hallgren picked up the only doubles win of the day for the Griz with a 6-3 win on court three over EWU’s Doumen/Khachatryan pair.
Shaffrey also picked up a win in singles, beating Doumen 6-2, 7-5 on court 5. Fellow freshman Ed Pudney was the only other Grizzly to get a win, defeating Martin Bats on court 4, 6-4, 6-3.
The loss puts Montana into a three-way tie for fifth place in the Big Sky standings with just two matches left in the regular season against Montana State and Southern Utah.
After today’s loss, Montana will need to win one of those matches to advance to the conference championship tournament in Phoenix. With SUU (6-2 BSC) clinching a berth at the tourney this weekend, Montana’s postseason hopes likely rest on the Brawl of the Wild match against MSU (4-4 BSC) on April 18.
“We still control our own destiny so that is all we can ask for after having so many close matches slip away from us this season,” says Brown.
The Griz will face the cats in Bozeman on April 18 before capping the season at home against the Thunderbirds on Sunday, April 21.
Eastern Washington 5, Montana 2
4/14/2019 at Cheney, Wash. (EWU)
Singles competition
1. FIELD, Jeremy (EWU) def. CANELLOPOULOS, Alex (UM) 6-3, 6-3
2. KHACHATRYAN, Mikayel (EWU) def. HALLGREN, Ludvig (UM) 6-1, 6-1
3. BALCE, Manuel (EWU) def. KORKH, Max (UM) 7-6, 6-3
4. PUDNEY, Ed (UM) def. BATS, Martin (EWU) 6-4, 6-3
5. SHAFFREY, Oisin (UM) def. DOUMEN, Wout (EWU) 6-2, 7-6
6. MUELLER, Jeremy (EWU) def. HALLGREN, Pontus (UM) 1-6, 6-3, 10-8
Doubles competition
1. FIELD, Jeremy/BALCE, Manuel (EWU) def. CANELLOPOULOS, Alex/HALLGREN, Ludvig (UM) 6-2
2. BATS, Martin/MUELLER, Jeremy (EWU) def. PUDNEY, Ed/KORKH, Max (UM) 6-4
3. SHAFFREY, Oisin/HALLGREN, Pontus (UM) def. DOUMEN, Wout/KHACHATRYAN, Mikayel (EWU) 6-3
