Cats Fall in Regular Season Finale

Saturday, April 20

BOZEMAN

10 a.m.

Montana State University

Montana

Photo by: Bobcat Creative Services

4/20/2024 4:56:00 PM | Women's Tennis

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“The fact that we live to play another day is big for the team,” Woodburn said. “I think we’re really going to be the underdog heading into the Big Sky Tournament. We just haven’t been there for so many years. We play our best when we have a nothing to lose mentality.”

By: Tom Schulz

Montana captured the opening doubles point with a narrow 7-6 (7-4) tiebreaking win at No. 3 doubles and rode the momentum to a 5-2 win over Montana State on Saturday afternoon in the Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center in the final regular-season match for both squads.

Montana (8-11, 6-2) opened with a 6-0 win at No. 2 doubles, before Montana State's (13-6, 4-4) top tandem of Marta Garcia-Reboredo and Hudson Hawkins won 7-6, dispatching Hailey Murphy and Kelsey Phillips 7-1 in the tiebreaker, forcing the point to be decided at No. 3 on the ladder.

"It was tough to lose the doubles point," said MSU head coach Suzie Woodburn. "We were right there, but it just didn't go our way. Obviously, we didn't get the results we wanted, but every kid competed to the end."

Garcia-Reboredo and Hawkins finished the Big Sky season 13-6 overall and 7-1 league play.

UM went up 2-0 as Murphy recorded a 6-2, 6-4 win over Garcia-Reboredo at the top spot on the singles ladder. Nos. 2-4 doubles all went three sets. The Bobcats won the opening set in each match, but Phillips came from behind for a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) win over Dougherty at No. 2, and Grace Haugen rallied for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory at No. 3 to clinch the match for the Grizzlies.

Montana went up 5-0 as Olivia Oosterbaan notched a 6-3, 6-2 decision over Felicia Jayasaputra at No. 5 singles.

The Bobcats earned its first point as senior Jazmin Lerman held off Maria Goheen 6-2, 3-6, 7-5. Hawkins, a freshman from Las Vegas, gave MSU its last point with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Rosie Sterk. Hawkins finished the Big Sky season with a perfect 5-0 slate at No. 6 singles.

"For Jazmin to pull out a win on Senior Day was huge," Woodburn. "With the match already decided she could've easily shutdown, but she didn't, and she found a way, trusted her game and found joy on the court."

Montana State makes its first appearance in the Big Sky Tournament for the first time since 2017. The Bobcats enter as the No. 4 seed and will face #5 Weber State, Thursday, April 25 at 8 a.m. at the Phoenix Tennis Center in Arizona.

"The fact that we live to play another day is big for the team," Woodburn said. "I think we're really going to be the underdog heading into the Big Sky Tournament. We just haven't been there for so many years. We play our best when we have a nothing to lose mentality."

Montana 5, Montana State 2

Singles: