FLAGS FLY FOREVER! Cats Capture Share of Big Sky Regular Season Men's Tennis Championship by Beating Griz

Saturday, April 23

Bozeman, MT

4 p.m.

Montana State University

Montana

Jamieson Nathan celebrates as Cats beat Griz in men's tennis Saturday

Photo by: Jack Murrey

FLAGS FLY FOREVER! Cats Capture Share of Big Sky Regular Season Men's Tennis Championship by Beating Griz

4/23/2022 8:56:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

Largest crowd in Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center history sees MSU earn historic win

By: Bill Lamberty

BOZEMAN, Montana – Flags fly forever, and the newest member of Montana State's men's tennis lineup had a vision when he arrived in Bozeman in August.

"This is the truth," Bobcat sophomore Matej Panik said after MSU clinched its 5-2 win over Montana to capture a share of the Big Sky regular season championship Saturday evening in Bozeman. "When I got here in August I pointed at (the banner inside the Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center denoting MSU's championship seasons) and told my teammates, 'Just look at that. And picture 2022 on there. Because it's going to happen.'"

On Saturday, it did. The Bobcats took two doubles matches to capture the first point of the competition, then won three of the first four singles matches to clinch the victory. With the triumph, the Bobcats capture a share of the Big Sky Regular Season Championship, the program's first since 2013.

"It's a great day," said third-year Bobcat coach Trey Morris. "What an accomplishment for these guys, to win the first conference championship – whether it be regular season or tournament – since 2013. Unbelievable effort by these guys this year and to do it against the Griz is pretty awesome."

The player who will get the most enjoyment out of the addition to MSU's championship banner, Marcos Zelver, clinched the doubles point with two unreturnable serves. When his teammates finished the job during singles play, the former Bozeman High state champion earned the distinction of also winning one for his hometown University.

"To win like that at home in front of this crowd, it's pretty special," Zelver said. "I'll be back here playing tennis in this building for a long time, so be able to see that up there will be awesome."

With the Bobcats up 1-0 in doubles play but the No. 1 doubles match knotted at 4-4, Zelver served with he and Brad Buckland leading Oisin Shaffrey and Lawrence Sciglitano 5-4. He blasted an unreturnable serve to pull his team within a point of the doubles match, then moments later replicated that to clinch the point. "To finish with two unreturnable serves," he said, "that's pretty special."

Panik opened singles play with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Sciglitano at No. 2, but UM's Ed Pudney took a 7-6 (7-5), 6-0 win over Daan Van Dijk at the top ladder spot to pull UM with 2-1 in the team score. Brad Buckland captured a hard-fought 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 victory at No. 4.

Jamieson Nathan and Oisin Shaffrey locked into a back-and-forth battle at No. 3 singles, with Nathan looking to close out the competition and Shaffrey hoping to extend it to the bottom two ladder spots. Shaffrey won the first set 6-4, but Nathan followed with a 7-5 win to force a deciding set. With Shaffrey serving, his return of a Nathan shot sailed just wide, setting off a Bobcat celebration.

"It was a serious grind," Nathan said. "It's not always the better player in big matches like this, it's who can stay out there and tough it out the longest. It's very tough out there."

"You have to focus on the next point," he said. "We've been in this situation a lot this season. The practice, the scheduling from our coach, and you win big moments like this. When I came here I knew this was a young team that was looking very promising, but to have this success this early on is amazing. Credit the team and the coach."

While the team result was clinched before the lower ladder matches even got going, an amazing individual accomplishment was unfolding in No. 6 singles. Bobcat senior Joaquin Espinoza earned a 6-4, 6-3 win over Pontus Hallgren to finish the regular season with a perfect 8-0 mark in Big Sky play.

"It's a testament to his daily work ethic and the quality he puts into it," Morris said. "I've said this all year. We have six guys playing in any spot in the lineup. We have winning records at every spot, and it just so happens that we're deeper than most teams in this conference. For J to go 8-0 is a great accomplishment for him, and to do that as a fifth year senior is unbelievable."

The Bobcats won their regular season finale in front of a the largest crowd in Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center history, and finish with a 17-7 regular season record, 7-1 in the Big Sky. Montana State earned a first-round bye in the 2022 Big Sky Conference Men's Tennis Championships, which begins on Thursday in Phoenix. As the second seed, the Bobcats play the winner of Thursday's Montana-Idaho State match on Friday.

Montana State 5, Montana 2
4-23-22 at Bozeman, Montana (Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center)

SINGLES
1. PUDNEY,Ed (UM) def. VAN DIJK, Daan (MSU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-0
2. PANIK, Matej (MSU) def. SCIGLITANO,Lawrence (UM) 6-3, 6-1
3. NATHAN, Jamieson (MSU) def. SHAFFREY,Oisin (UM) 4-6, 7-5, 7-5
4. BUCKLAND, Brad (MSU) def. THEILGAARD,Gustav (UM) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
5. STOEGER,Moritz (UM) def. SITAR, Nejc (MSU) 6-2, 4-6, 10-7
6. ESPINOZA, Joaquin (MSU) def. HALLGREN,Pontus (UM) 6-4, 6-3

DOUBLES
1. NATHAN, Jamieson/PANIK, Matej (MSU) vs. PUDNEY,Ed/STOEGER,Moritz (UM) 4-4, unfinished
2. VAN DIJK, Daan/SITAR, Nejc (MSU) def. THEILGAARD,Gustav/BENN,Milo (UM) 6-2
3. BUCKLAND, Brad/ZELVER, Marcos (MSU) def. SHAFFREY,Oisin/SCIGLITANO,Lawrence (UM) 6-4

Records: Montana 14-4/5-3 Big Sky, Montana State 17-7/7-1 Big Sky
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (2,1,4,3,5)
T-3:37 A-350

Montana State clinches a share of the Big Sky Regular Season Championship and enters next week's Big Sky Tournament as the second seed. Montana is the fourth seed.