Montana State Rides Momentum from Doubles Point Win to 6-1 Men's Tennis Triumph Over Portland State

Saturday, March 7

Bozeman, MT

12 noon

Montana State University

Portland State

Montana State Rides Momentum from Doubles Point Win to 6-1 Men's Tennis Triumph Over Portland State

3/7/2020 7:05:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

MSU wins five of six singles matches to capture league-opening victory

By: Bill Lamberty

BOZEMAN, Montana – Trey Morris has preached the importance of winning the doubles point from the moment he became Montana State's men's tennis coach last summer. On Saturday, his Bobcats showed why.

After winning a 6-2 decision at No. 3 doubles and dropping a 6-3 match at No. 1, Manuel Monteiro and Joaquin Espinoza were deadlocked at 4-4 with Portland State's Matteo Fortini and Majeed Bukhari. Montana State then broke serve, and served out to clinch the doubles point. That spurred Montana State to a 6-1 conference-opening win against Portland State in the Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center.

"The guys brought quality today from the first point," Morris said. "I thought the fight we showed in doubles set the tone for the entire match."

The willingness to fight served the Bobcats well during singles play. Espinoza opened with a 6-3, 7-6 win at No. 2, but after Nejc Sitar dropped his match at No. 1 Montana State led 2-1. In quick succession, though Montana State secured the win. Christian Damgaard Qvist won 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at No. 3, then Marcos Zelver earned a come-from-behind 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 win to seal the team victory. Chase Stoner (No. 5) and Manuel Monteiro (No. 6) closed the competition with singles victories for the final margin.

Morris liked the way his team built on the momentum from its early success. "I give Portland State a lot of credit, it was a fight today. Both teams were up for it. I was pleased that after the doubles point the guys kept it rolling all the way through the match."

Montana State doesn't have much time to celebrate its first league win of the 2020 season. The Bobcats, now 5-3 overall, 1-0 in Big Sky play, hosts Northern Colorado on Sunday morning at 10 am in the Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center. Portland State is now 4-4 on the season, 2-1 in the league.

Montana State 6, Portland State 1
March 7, 2020 at Bozeman, Montana (Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center)

Singles competition
1. FORTINI, Matteo (PSU) def. SITAR, Nejc (MSU) 6-3, 7-6
2. ESPINOZA, Joaquin (MSU) def. EDWARDS, Tommy (PSU) 6-3, 7-6
3. DAMGAARD-QVIST, C. (MSU) def. DIMITRIJEVIC, Nikola (PSU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
4. ZELVER, Marcos (MSU) def. ROBERTS, Sam (PSU) 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
5. STONER, Chase (MSU) def. BUKHARI, Majeed (PSU) 7-6, 6-3
6. MONTEIRO, Manuel (MSU) def. BUKARY, Sahal (PSU) 7-5, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. EDWARDS, Tommy/ROBERTS, Sam (PSU) def. SITAR, Nejc/DAMGAARD-QVIST, C. (MSU) 6-3
2. MONTEIRO, Manuel/ESPINOZA, Joaquin (MSU) def. FORTINI, Matteo/BUKHARI, Majeed (PSU) 6-4
3. STONER, Chase/ZELVER, Marcos (MSU) def. DIMITRIJEVIC, Nikola/BUKARY, Sahal (PSU) 6-2

Records: Portland State 4-4/2-1 Big Sky, Montana State 5-3/1-0 Big Sky
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (2,1,3,4,5,6)