Friday, January 28
Bozeman, MT
2:30 pm
Montana State University
vs
Seattle
Matej Panik
Photo by: Jack Murrey
Fresh Off League-Opening Win, MSU Men's Tennis Hosts Two Weekend Non-League Matches
1/26/2022 3:57:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Bobcats Host Seattle Friday and Oral Roberts Sunday...
BOZEMAN, Montana – The weekend just past for the Montana State men's tennis team featured two team wins and a number of individual highlights, but for third-year head coach Trey Morris it all boils down to one element.
"We started the conference (season) 1-0," he said simply, referring to the Bobcats' 7-0 win at Eastern Washington on Sunday. That match was the Big Sky Conference opener for both teams.
Montana State returns to action this weekend, hosting non-conference matches against Seattle on Friday at 2 pm, and Oral Roberts on Sunday at 2 pm. Morris said this week's opponents offer his team both strong competition and opportunity.
"Seattle is very much improved this season," Morris said. "They added a great recruiting class Coach (Kristina) Hollander is doing a great job with that program. We expect a really tough match."
The Redhawks stand 0-4 this season, dropping a pair of matches against Washington (both 7-0) and one each to Nevada (6-1) and Gonzaga (4-0). Filip Stivic and Veselin Kiselkov man the top ladder spots, and each are freshmen. Underscoring Morris' point, the only two seniors on Seattle's roster – Juan Pablo Jaramillo and Billy Givens-Jensen – have yet to play this spring.
Oral Roberts has dropped its two team matches this season, falling 6-1 at Wichita State an d 4-2 against Saint Louis. Golden Eagles' top singles player, sophomore Volodymyr Zakharov, won both his matches at the No. 1 spot. Sophomore Kyle Johnson has ORU's other singles victory this season, a victory at No. 6 against Saint Louis.
"Oral Roberts is similar to Seattle," Morris said. "They have some very good new players, and they're really strong at the top of the lineup."
Montana State opened its spring season winning three of its first four matches, including Division I wins against Air Force and Eastern Washington. Morris cites quality depth as a positive force for his squad. "We have 10 guys that can make an impact for us," he said. "Whoever we put on the court I have confidence can compete and do a great job."
All nine Bobcats who have competed in January own singles victories. Sophomore Matej Panik stands 3-1 as MSU's No. 1 singles player, and sophomore Daan Van Dijk is also 3-1 at No. 2. Those two stand 2-1 in doubles, are ranked 33rd in ITA's national preseason poll, and led Gonzaga's nationally-ranked No. 1 doubles team 5-3 before the match was terminated when the Bulldogs clinched the doubles point.
The Cats generated positive momentum with its season-opening win against Air Force and extended it with last week's two wins. "Momentum is massive," he said. "Coming off a 1-0 conference start and starting the season 3-1 should give the boys a lot of confidence. That is important."
Six of MSU's nine players to compete this season own multiple singles victories, a testimony to the team's depth, but Morris is also attitude and intangibles. "We have to clean some things up in doubles," he said, "but we talk a lot about controlling the controllable. Body language, attitude, those are things you can control and I thought on the weekend we did a good job with that."
Both weekend matches occur in the Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center.
#GoCatsGo
"We started the conference (season) 1-0," he said simply, referring to the Bobcats' 7-0 win at Eastern Washington on Sunday. That match was the Big Sky Conference opener for both teams.
Montana State returns to action this weekend, hosting non-conference matches against Seattle on Friday at 2 pm, and Oral Roberts on Sunday at 2 pm. Morris said this week's opponents offer his team both strong competition and opportunity.
"Seattle is very much improved this season," Morris said. "They added a great recruiting class Coach (Kristina) Hollander is doing a great job with that program. We expect a really tough match."
The Redhawks stand 0-4 this season, dropping a pair of matches against Washington (both 7-0) and one each to Nevada (6-1) and Gonzaga (4-0). Filip Stivic and Veselin Kiselkov man the top ladder spots, and each are freshmen. Underscoring Morris' point, the only two seniors on Seattle's roster – Juan Pablo Jaramillo and Billy Givens-Jensen – have yet to play this spring.
Oral Roberts has dropped its two team matches this season, falling 6-1 at Wichita State an d 4-2 against Saint Louis. Golden Eagles' top singles player, sophomore Volodymyr Zakharov, won both his matches at the No. 1 spot. Sophomore Kyle Johnson has ORU's other singles victory this season, a victory at No. 6 against Saint Louis.
"Oral Roberts is similar to Seattle," Morris said. "They have some very good new players, and they're really strong at the top of the lineup."
Montana State opened its spring season winning three of its first four matches, including Division I wins against Air Force and Eastern Washington. Morris cites quality depth as a positive force for his squad. "We have 10 guys that can make an impact for us," he said. "Whoever we put on the court I have confidence can compete and do a great job."
All nine Bobcats who have competed in January own singles victories. Sophomore Matej Panik stands 3-1 as MSU's No. 1 singles player, and sophomore Daan Van Dijk is also 3-1 at No. 2. Those two stand 2-1 in doubles, are ranked 33rd in ITA's national preseason poll, and led Gonzaga's nationally-ranked No. 1 doubles team 5-3 before the match was terminated when the Bulldogs clinched the doubles point.
The Cats generated positive momentum with its season-opening win against Air Force and extended it with last week's two wins. "Momentum is massive," he said. "Coming off a 1-0 conference start and starting the season 3-1 should give the boys a lot of confidence. That is important."
Six of MSU's nine players to compete this season own multiple singles victories, a testimony to the team's depth, but Morris is also attitude and intangibles. "We have to clean some things up in doubles," he said, "but we talk a lot about controlling the controllable. Body language, attitude, those are things you can control and I thought on the weekend we did a good job with that."
Both weekend matches occur in the Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center.
#GoCatsGo
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
2020 Hype Video
Thursday, February 13
Men's Tennis Preview | Sac St & Idaho St
Wednesday, April 05
AD Peter Fields and Coach Ash's Remarks Logo Press Conference Remarks
Wednesday, April 17
Cat Dancers - Feb. 24, 2013
Monday, March 25
