Preview: @UNCO_WTennis Heads to Montana

THE SCHEDULE
Spring Match 17
Saturday, April 14 - 9:00 a.m.
vs. Montana
Missoula, Mont.

Spring Match 18
Sunday April 15 - 9:00 a.m.
vs. Montana State
Bozeman, Mont.

GREELEY, Colo. - The Bears (5-11, 1-7 Big Sky) will travel to Montana this week to face the University of Montana on Saturday, followed by Montana State on Sunday in women's tennis. Northern Colorado will be looking to improve their conference record. With three Big Sky contests remaining, they will need to win all three and hope Eastern Washington or Southern Utah loses the rest of the way to take the sixth and final post-season spot.

LAST TIME OUT

On April 7, the Bears lost to Big Sky foe North Dakota 7-0 in Grand Forks. Five of six singles matches resulted in straight set defeats. At No. 5, Mana Koitabashi fell in a third set tiebreaker to Zahra Finnigan 6-2, 5-7, 10-6. The Bears did pick up a win a No. 3 doubles. Carrigan Blanchard and Sarina Chhabra got past Zahra Finnigan and Masha Lobanova 7-5. The Bears have lost four of their last five matches. They defeated Concordia College (Minn.) 5-0 on April 6.

FOR THE BEARS

Last season, the Bears finished 8-13 overall, 5-6 in the Big Sky. They need to win three of their final four matches to reach that mark. The last time the team finished above .500 in conference play was 2013-14 when they went 6-4.

Soph. Raffa Mora made the jump from No. 6 to No. 1 singles this season and has become a leader on the team. Mora, along with Fr. Tristen Bryant-Otake have combined to go 7-7 at No. 1 doubles. Bryant-Otake has played mostly No. 2 in singles.

SCOUTING THE GRIZZLIES (7-13, 3-5 Big Sky)

Montana is riding a three-match losing skid heading into this week with losses against Southern Utah (5-2), UNLV (7-0), and Idaho State (4-3) over the past two weeks. Julia Ronney, a freshman from San Diego, Calif. plays No. 2 singles and holds a 7-8 record. She has wins this season over Montana State, Seattle, and Idaho State.

The Grizzlies are 80-108 in all singles matches this spring, 30-48 in doubles. Sr. Cam Kincaid and Fr. Bianca Bostrom have been the go-to pair for No. 1 doubles and are 6-7.

Montana features a balanced roster, which consists of two seniors, two juniors, one sophomore, and three freshmen. Steve Ascher is in his tenth season as head coach of the Grizzlies. The team has greatly improved from a year ago. They finished 2016-17 with a 3-19 overall record, 2-9 in the Big Sky.

Last year, the Bears narrowly beat Montana 4-3 in Greeley. Anna Battersby was a straight set winner at No. 1 singles and Raffa Mora won in three sets at No. 5. The Bears also took the team doubles point in the contest.

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS (5-13, 2-6 BigSky)

The Bobcats have lost their last nine matches and play three duels this weekend with Eastern Washington on Friday, Idaho Saturday, and Northern Colorado Sunday. The match against UNC also marks the end of the regular season schedule for Montana State.

Despite their overall record, the Bobcats have found some successes this season, primarily in doubles. At 23-26 overall as a team, Annie Walker and Laura Mary are 5-7 at No. 1. Linda Vink and Angelina Phillipova are 6-3 at No. 2, and Sarah Cheverie and Enni Zander are 4-2 at No. 3.

In singles, Laura Mary is 6-10 at No. 1. Mary went 2-0 in singles last weekend, marking wins over Weber State and Idaho State and should be a tough test for the Bears' top singles player Raffa Mora. Annie Walker is 3-7 at No. 2 and the rest of the singles lineup has been largely unpredictable.

Last season, the Bobcats finished 8-15 (6-5 Big Sky) and made the conference tournament. Jon Reeves is in his second season as Head Coach. Montana State won the matchup against UNC last year 6-1 in Greeley. Northern Colorado swept doubles but failed to win a match in singles.

BIG SKY BIG PICTURE

Northern Arizona is the only team that has clinched a spot in the Big Sky Tournament thus far. They are 10-0 (16-3 overall) and undefeated at home (6-0). Idaho is second at 6-1 (9-6 overall) and Sacramento State is third at 5-2 (7-11 overall). The Bears sit in eleventh place behind Montana State (2-6) and ahead of Portland State (0-10) who are still looking for their first win of the season.

Marianna Petrei (Idaho) continues to lead the No. 1 singles rankings with an individual record of 9-3. Hanneke Lodewijks (Northern Arizona) holds a 10-1 record at No. 2 singles.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Anna Battersby

Carrigan Blanchard

Tristen Bryant-Otake

Sarina Chhabra

Mana Koitabashi

Sponsors