Montana State Men's Tennis Team Tops Seattle 6-1 to Cap Strong Season-Opening Weekend

Sunday, January 14

12:45 pm

Montana State University

Seattle

Dario Ciobotaru

Photo by: Bobcat Creative Services

1/14/2024 8:43:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

Bobcats finish weekend 16 wins in 18 total competitions

By: Bill Lamberty

BOEMAN, Montana – Montana State assistant tennis coach Grayson Burns liked the results of his team's home match against Seattle on Sunday, a 6-1 Bobcat victory. But he like something else even more.

"We have fighters," Burns said after the Cats won their second match in three days to open the 2024 tennis season. "These guys have a ton of fight. Some of them are a little new to college tennis so they're still learning that, but they bring it every day in practice and they brought it (Sunday)."

The team's competitiveness showed early and often Sunday. Montana State won two of the three doubles matches to capture the doubles point. Dario Ciobotaru and Kanika Jayathilake won at No. 3 doubles, as they did in Friday's win against UC Riverside. MSU's other two doubles tandems on Sunday matched up differently, with Max Relic and Andre Stewart winning at No. 1 to help the team earn the point.

The Bobcats jumped out early in singles play, with Andre Stewart winning at No. 3 singles and Max Relic at the top ladder spot to push Montana State to within one victory of the team win. Then Dario Ciobotaru captured a clinching 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 2 singles. "Most of us are playing our first (regular season) match in college, so it's a good feeling," said Ciobotaru, one of three freshmen to make their Bobcat debuts this weekend.

The team result had been decided by the time Kanika Jayathilake earned a hard-fought victory in No. 6 singles. The freshman dropped the first set 6-3, then rallied to win a second-set tie-breaker 9-7. He won six of the final seven points to extend the match, then in the super-tiebreaker third set he staved off two match points then won four of the final five to close the competition.

Burns said the college game requires a transition from the individual-oriented world of juniors tennis that international players grow up in. "It's a team atmosphere, we always say we before me," he said. "It's louder, it's more exciting, it's a different atmosphere, but I think they're all adjusting really well."

The Bobcats raised their 2024 record to 2-0 with Sunday's win, while Seattle fell to 1-1 Montana State's next home match is a January 27 doubleheader against Whitworth.

Montana State (2-0) 6, Seattle (1-1) 1
01/14/2024 at Bozeman, Montana -- Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center

#             DOUBLES DRAWS
1             Max Relic and Andre Stewart (MSU) def. Veselin Kiselkov and Jun Sasagawa (SU) 6-4
2             Michael Frank and Julian Worn (SU) def. Adrian Daniel and Jacob Huppin (MSU) 6-2
3             Dario Ciobotaru and Kanika Jayathilake (MSU) def. Yu-Han Hsieh and Filip Stipic (SU)                6-4

#             SINGLES DRAWS
1             Max Relic (MSU) def. Julian Worn (SU) 6-4, 6-4
2             Dario Ciobotaru (MSU) def. Filip Stipic (SU) 6-4, 6-4
3             Andre Stewart (MSU) def. Jun Sasagawa (SU) 6-2, 6-4
4             Jacob Huppin (MSU) def. Michael Frank (SU) 6-3, 7-5
5             Kanika Jayathilake (MSU) def. Veselin Kiselkov (SU) 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 14-12 (10-point Tiebreaker was used)
6             Yu-Han Hsieh (SU) def. Adrian Daniel (MSU) 7-6 (7-3)              6-3

MATCH NOTES
Order of finish: Singles -- 3 1 2 4 6 5 ; Doubles -- 3 2 1
Start Time: 12:45 PM
Duration: 4:20
Attendance: 50