Vandals Sneak Past Cats

Sunday, April 18

BOZEMAN

10 a.m.

Montana State University

Idaho

Senior Laura Mary closed out her career with a victory over Idaho at No. 1 singles.

Photo by: Jack Murrey

4/18/2021 5:13:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

The Montana State women’s tennis team knows what it is like to be snakebit. The Bobcats suffered its fourth consecutive 4-3 setback, dropping its final match of the season to Idaho on Sunday afternoon in the Bobcat Anderson Tennis Center.

By: Tom Schulz

BOZEMAN, Mont. – The Montana State women's tennis team knows what it is like to be snakebit. The Bobcats suffered its fourth consecutive 4-3 setback, dropping its final match of the season to Idaho on Sunday afternoon in the Bobcat Anderson Tennis Center.

Idaho (4-7, 2-2) fought off a Montana State (1-10, 0-4) rally at No. 5 singles as Marta Magalhaes withstood JJ Chen's comeback. After dropping the opening set to Magalhaes 6-0, MSU's freshman from Adelaide, Australia sent the second set into a tiebreaker, which Magalhaes won 8-6, giving the Vandals the match.

"Literally, today was one-point," said MSU head coach Jon Reeves. "And it's not been the only match that's been one-point. The parity is really close in the Big Sky Conference with a ton of 4-3 matches. We had four 4-3 decisions, as did Idaho and Montana. Eastern Washington's last three matches were all 4-3, and it's just a point here or there that's made the difference in a win or a loss."

Idaho opened the match with victories at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles to earn the first point of the contest.

The Bobcats grabbed the momentum opening singles play as true-freshman Felicia Jayasaputra posted a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Katherine Jhang at No. 3. Idaho went up 2-1 with a victory at the No. 2 slot, before MSU senior Laura Mary regrouped from a disappointing doubles loss with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 decision over Melissa Huchet at the top spot to put an exclamation point on her Senior Day.

"When we started doubles there were a lot of emotions," Reeves said. "Laura didn't start out hot, but then in classic style, she pulled it together and did an outstanding job finishing out her match and career.

"Felicia, again, has just been bringing it," Reeves added. "She's made a huge step from the first weekend, which was over three months ago."

With the match knotted at two-all, play at No. 4 singles proved to be the first key contest in deciding the final outcome. Bobcat senior Enni Zander dropped the opening set 6-2 to Maggie Chen, before fighting back to take a 6-2 win in the second frame. Chen jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third set, before Zander, a product of Stockholm, Sweden rattled off five consecutive games, including owning two set points. Chen eventually forced a third set tiebreaker, and after giving up the first two points to Zander, reeled off seven straight for the win.

"It was a typical Enni match," Reeves said. "She really stepped-up this season moving from the No. 6 spot into the No. 4 slot, where she's playing tougher kids, both physically and mentally. Enni is a competitor through and through and it was only fitting her last match as a Bobcat would be a third set tiebreaker."

Bobcat freshman Jazmin Lerman earned her first Big Sky singles victory to even the contest at 3-3 with a straight set 6-4, 6-1 win over Saffron Dowse at No. 6 singles, forcing the match to be decided at the No. 5 spot.

"Jazmin hadn't won a match in league play, so her win at No. 6 is a game changer," Reeves said. "She took the game plan and executed it, keeping things simple. She did a nice job breaking the girl down, and if she doesn't win the match, it's a long summer. Now, she can reflect on the match and get after it."

Despite going winless in league play, Reeves was more than proud of his players for navigating the COIVD-19 pandemic. Due to the coronavirus, the Bobcats had just one student-athlete on campus from mid-March 2020 to mid-January 2021.

"Obviously, from a win standpoint it's not what we would like," Reeves stated. "From a health standpoint, we didn't have anyone get COVID and our kids did an amazing job with that. We kept our workouts and training to a minimum where we would stay healthy enough to be able to compete and play, and that was the hardest thing.

"We didn't have our whole team here until mid-January," Reeves added. "And just weeks later, we're playing, and literally they hadn't trained since March 2020. It was tough to miss the whole fall with conditioning and training. It was trying, but, again, I'm just so proud of our kids and their resilience in dealing with so much adversity."

Idaho 4, Montana State 3

Singles:
1. MARY, Laura (MSU-W) def. Melissa Huchet (UID-W) 6-2, 6-2
2. Laura Spataro (UID-W) def. VAN BAELEN, Mirte (MSU-W) 6-2, 6-3
3. JAYASAPUTRA, Felicia (MSU-W) def. Katherine Jhang (UID-W) 6-4, 6-1
4. Maggie Chen (UID-W) def. ZANDER, Enni (MSU-W) 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2)
5. Marta Magalhaes (UID-W) def. CHEN, JJ (MSU-W) 6-0, 7-6 (8-6)
6. LERMAN, Jazmin (MSU-W) def. Saffron Dowse (UID-W) 6-4, 6-1

Doubles:
1. Melissa Huchet/Katherine Jhang (UID-W) def. MARY, Laura/VAN BAELEN, Mirte (MSU-W) 6-0
2. Laura Spataro/Maggie Chen (UID-W) def. CHEN, JJ/LERMAN, Jazmin (MSU-W) 6-3
3. Marta Magalhaes/Saffron Dowse (UID-W) def. ZANDER, Enni/JAYASAPUTRA, Felicia (MSU-W) 7-5