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.
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"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.
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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.
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"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."
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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.
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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.
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"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."
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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."
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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.
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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."
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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."
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Both weekend matches occur in the Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center.
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#GoCatsGo
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"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.
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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.
Â
"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."
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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.
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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.
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"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."
Â
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."
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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.
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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."
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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."
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Both weekend matches occur in the Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center.
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#GoCatsGo
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Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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