Niklas Brandes
Photo by: Kelly Gorham
Bobcat Men's Tennis Team Plays at PSU Thursday
3/5/2014 3:34:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Unexpected addition to road trip provides tough test
An important mid-season road trip grew in importance Wednesday for the Montana State men's tennis team, when a match scheduled for Bozeman last weekend was moved to Portland State on Thursday.
Match time is 3:30 pm MT on the PSU campus. The change was necessitated when Portland State opted not to make the trip from Missoula for Saturday's match at MSU due to poor road and weather conditions.
The Bobcats follow the league match on Thursday, just hours after the team flies into Portland, with two non-league matches against Seattle University (March 7-8) and one against the University of Portland (March 9). The Cats then fly south for league contests at Southern Utah (March 12) and Northern Arizona (March 13).
"It will be a challenge," Bobcat coach Jared Burnham said of his team's eight-day, six-match odyssey, "but it will be fun. We'll play a lot of tennis and I like how the trip sets up. We'll have to get rest when we can and drink a lot of water, but it will be interesting."
The trip opens with a match originally scheduled to be a Bobcat home contest. "Portland State is an improving team," Burnham said. "They have talent, and it is an important match."
MSU's three non-league matches in Oregon also stand as stern tests, Burnham said. "Seattle is a good team, and it should be a very competitive match," he said. "We'll mix up the lineup on the second day so it will be competitive and give us a different look. Portland is a really good team, and they are very tough at the top of the lineup. Their No. 1 player is excellent, so it will be a good challenge for Niklas (Brandes, MSU's top singles player)."
The Bobcats fly to Las Vegas on Tuesday and play at Southern Utah on Wednesday. The Thunderbirds stand as an unknown quantity, as the Thunderbirds' first match comes against Sacramento State on March 9, but SUU has three starters returning from last year.
Northern Arizona, where the Bobcats play next Thursday, stand 3-6 but own wins over UC Riverside, New Mexico State and Missouri-Kansas City. All those victories are away from home. The Jacks own an 0-2 league mark, dropping matches at Idaho State and Weber State last weekend, but the match against the Bobcats is NAU's first at home this season.
"NAU is a very solid team, but they had a tough trip last weekend" to ISU and WSU, Burnham said. "They've played a tough schedule."
Match time is 3:30 pm MT on the PSU campus. The change was necessitated when Portland State opted not to make the trip from Missoula for Saturday's match at MSU due to poor road and weather conditions.
The Bobcats follow the league match on Thursday, just hours after the team flies into Portland, with two non-league matches against Seattle University (March 7-8) and one against the University of Portland (March 9). The Cats then fly south for league contests at Southern Utah (March 12) and Northern Arizona (March 13).
"It will be a challenge," Bobcat coach Jared Burnham said of his team's eight-day, six-match odyssey, "but it will be fun. We'll play a lot of tennis and I like how the trip sets up. We'll have to get rest when we can and drink a lot of water, but it will be interesting."
The trip opens with a match originally scheduled to be a Bobcat home contest. "Portland State is an improving team," Burnham said. "They have talent, and it is an important match."
MSU's three non-league matches in Oregon also stand as stern tests, Burnham said. "Seattle is a good team, and it should be a very competitive match," he said. "We'll mix up the lineup on the second day so it will be competitive and give us a different look. Portland is a really good team, and they are very tough at the top of the lineup. Their No. 1 player is excellent, so it will be a good challenge for Niklas (Brandes, MSU's top singles player)."
The Bobcats fly to Las Vegas on Tuesday and play at Southern Utah on Wednesday. The Thunderbirds stand as an unknown quantity, as the Thunderbirds' first match comes against Sacramento State on March 9, but SUU has three starters returning from last year.
Northern Arizona, where the Bobcats play next Thursday, stand 3-6 but own wins over UC Riverside, New Mexico State and Missouri-Kansas City. All those victories are away from home. The Jacks own an 0-2 league mark, dropping matches at Idaho State and Weber State last weekend, but the match against the Bobcats is NAU's first at home this season.
"NAU is a very solid team, but they had a tough trip last weekend" to ISU and WSU, Burnham said. "They've played a tough schedule."
Thursday, February 13
Wednesday, April 05
Wednesday, April 17
Monday, March 25
