Jojo Bach (left) and Meg McCarty
Photo by: Brian Morse
Montana State's Nationally-Ranked Doubles Pair Meg McCarty and Jojo Bach Build Strength Through Differences
3/20/2025 2:42:00 PM | Women's Tennis
The duo reached MSU's highest ranking - No. 43 - earlier this season
BOZEMAN, Montana – You notice several things when Montana State's top doubles pair, Jojo Bach and Meg McCarty, take the court.
The first is their dominating play. The two stand 14-2 as the Big Sky Conference schedule begins to heat up, have won nine of their last 10 matches and reached a program record high national ranking this season of No. 43 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) doubles poll.
Then there are the physical differences. Bach, who stands over six-foot tall, towers over her partner and is gregarious and outgoing. McCarty, several inches shorter than Bach, tends toward soft-spoken.
The contrasting backgrounds of the two are also stark. Bach, a native of coastal Brighton, England, made stops at three universities before settling into the Montana State lineup for her final year of college tennis, while McCarty made her way down 11th Street from Bozeman High.
But when Bobcat coach Suzie Woodburn watches the two play, she sees something entirely different. "Just joy," she says. "The amount of joy they bring to the court is unmatched. Their doubles style is creative, fun and dominant!"
Woodburn also sees an important common trait. "They both have extremely high tennis IQs," she said. "They are very smart at what they do on the court. It kind of ebbs and flows with what's working and they're smart about making adjustments."
The unlikely tandem formed in October, when they played doubles together in MSU's only fall tournament. "We played one tournament in the fall," Woodburn said, "and they did awesome together. We love the combination of the two of them together and we knew it was going to be something special."
Bach spent much of the fall rehabbing from an injury that cost her the entire 2024 season, and her Bobcat debut "went well for us," she said. "But I'd say even before that I think things were falling into place pretty quickly. That tournament kind of proved that, and then we had the rest of the fall and the winter break to get a lot of sets in."
During the countless hours on the court, with Bach returning to full health while working with her new partner, the two rounded into form as a doubles pair. "We had time over the rest of the fall and the (semester) break to get a lot of sets in against not just the other girls on the team but some (coaches and former men's and women's MSU players). It just kept building."
McCarty said there's nothing like a doubles pair finding its rhythm. "It's a really good feeling," she said with a smile. "I just feel like wherever we are in a match we have this trust that we can always win. We have the belief that if we're down, we can come back. We just believe in our tennis and our partnership."
Much of that belief lies in their complementary strengths. Befitting her size, Bach excels at the net. "She has really good hands," Woodburn said. That means, Bach explained, that "I just have a lot of options at the net so I can finish points with power and precision, getting (the opponent) off court."
One of McCarty's strength is her ability to clean up points from the baseline. "Meg really moves well," Woodburn said, "and she has great precision. She is a super crafty player, very smart and can place a ball anywhere. She can really control the court so well."
Bach's college tennis career began at Delaware in 2019. She finished her freshman season 9-9 in singles and 7-10 in doubles, earning Colonial Athletic Association and ITA academic honors. As a sophomore she earned Second Team All-CAA honors in both singles and doubles, rolling up a 7-0 record at No. 2 doubles.
Bach transferred to Maryland before her junior season, finishing 13-12 in doubles play and 12-10 in singles. As a senior there in 2022-23 she played primarily doubles, rolling up a 19-9 record, including 4-3 in doubles play in Big 10 action, but with one more year of eligibility remaining she entered the transfer portal and found herself at the University of Portland. "I knew two of the girls on the Portland team that are also from England, so I felt comfortable going there."
Woodburn spent the 2021-22 season as an assistant coach at Wisconsin, a year that impacted the current Bobcat team tremendously. That spring she took note of Bach, then at Big 10 rival Maryland, as she excelled in doubles play. And she also began recruiting McCarty, a prep standout from faraway Montana, to UW.
"Meg was a five star, close to a blue chip, recruit so we were talking to her at Wisconsin," Woodburn said. "I think she had a lot of opportunities, but her parents went (to MSU) and I think deep down she wanted to stay close to home and play at MSU."
Securing the Montana State job in August of 2022, Woodburn knew she'd need to build her first Bobcat roster quickly. "As soon as I got the job here I had to take my recruiting test before I could call (recruits), so I told Thijs (Goossens, a former Bobcat tennis start and MSU's Associate AD with oversight of the tennis programs), 'There's a girl in Bozeman who I've already had conversations with at Wisconsin and I heard she's close to committing somewhere else, so I need to tell her I'm here.'"
Immediately after becoming certified to recruit, Woodburn grabbed her phone. "(McCarty) was at (a national tournament) and I called and said, 'I know you're in San Diego right now but I'm at Montana State, I just got the head coach job. Can I come to your house next week?' I think she was really excited at that point, and I didn't even know if we had scholarships but I knew I had to make here a Bobcat."
From her time at Wisconsin, Woodburn knew Bach as a Big 10 rival but also as an athlete who impressed with her competitiveness and acumen. "I got to see her compete (for Maryland) and she had such a presence on the doubles court," Woodburn recalled.
Just over a year ago, in Woodburn's second season at MSU, the Cats played a match at Portland. Bach was redshirting with an injury and had entered the transfer portal. "I asked if we could talk after the match, and it was (a good conversation) so she came on her official visit a couple weeks later. J was a big deal (as a recruit), I had Leon (Costello, MSU's Director of Athletics) visit with her, it went great, and we were fortunate enough to get her. And it's been great."
While sidelined at Portland Bach served as a student assistant coach, an experience she calls invaluable. "I think tactically you see a much bigger picture of the court and of positioning, or what's working and what's not," Bach said. "It's a better overall view of everything, but also of the mental aspect. From an external point of view you can see that one point doesn't determine a match, whereas when you're on the court playing you can feel like after (losing) a big point, it's over. It's tough to reset."
While Bach's tennis travels spanned an ocean and the entire North American continent, McCarty's career took her across the nation as a youth player. "Looking back, it's a little crazy," she said of her youth competition schedule, "and I can't believe that our whole family did this. But we were traveling two, three times a month, and yeah, obviously there are no real tournaments in Montana, or not many, so we'd go to a lot of Las Vegas tournaments, Salt Lake City, Denver."
McCarty maintained her academic work by leaning on the support system her parents Paul and Natalie provided. "Since we've done it from such a young age, the school aspect, you just learn how to time manage and you're able to balance it all. I was really lucky when I traveled, my older sister (Maicy) would also come. So I wasn't alone and we kind of went through it together, which was nice."
While McCarty punctuates her calm and steady demeanor on the court with an intense competitive streak, Woodburn calls Bach "feisty. She's loud on the court, she's a gamer, she's competitive. It's been fun to see the magic the two of them create with their different personalities."
Since the doubles pair formed last fall, Woodburn said the work has been tireless. "They've been very consistent, day in and day out of practice," she said. "When things are going great, they're incredible, but when things are tough and they're not playing their best they still find ways."
Woodburn said the growth continues, even as the season progresses. "I think we continue to work on doubles a lot because it is really important, so it's been fun. It's fun to see their confidence as a team just keep improving. You see them on the court and they have that belief and they have that swagger, regardless if they're playing the No. 29 team in the country, who they beat, they just have that belief that they're gonna win."
Bach and McCarty and their Bobcat teammates play at Sacramento State on Friday at 12 noon MT and at Weber State on March 30 before playing three home matches in April.
#GoCatsGo
The first is their dominating play. The two stand 14-2 as the Big Sky Conference schedule begins to heat up, have won nine of their last 10 matches and reached a program record high national ranking this season of No. 43 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) doubles poll.
Then there are the physical differences. Bach, who stands over six-foot tall, towers over her partner and is gregarious and outgoing. McCarty, several inches shorter than Bach, tends toward soft-spoken.
The contrasting backgrounds of the two are also stark. Bach, a native of coastal Brighton, England, made stops at three universities before settling into the Montana State lineup for her final year of college tennis, while McCarty made her way down 11th Street from Bozeman High.
But when Bobcat coach Suzie Woodburn watches the two play, she sees something entirely different. "Just joy," she says. "The amount of joy they bring to the court is unmatched. Their doubles style is creative, fun and dominant!"
Woodburn also sees an important common trait. "They both have extremely high tennis IQs," she said. "They are very smart at what they do on the court. It kind of ebbs and flows with what's working and they're smart about making adjustments."
The unlikely tandem formed in October, when they played doubles together in MSU's only fall tournament. "We played one tournament in the fall," Woodburn said, "and they did awesome together. We love the combination of the two of them together and we knew it was going to be something special."
Bach spent much of the fall rehabbing from an injury that cost her the entire 2024 season, and her Bobcat debut "went well for us," she said. "But I'd say even before that I think things were falling into place pretty quickly. That tournament kind of proved that, and then we had the rest of the fall and the winter break to get a lot of sets in."
During the countless hours on the court, with Bach returning to full health while working with her new partner, the two rounded into form as a doubles pair. "We had time over the rest of the fall and the (semester) break to get a lot of sets in against not just the other girls on the team but some (coaches and former men's and women's MSU players). It just kept building."
McCarty said there's nothing like a doubles pair finding its rhythm. "It's a really good feeling," she said with a smile. "I just feel like wherever we are in a match we have this trust that we can always win. We have the belief that if we're down, we can come back. We just believe in our tennis and our partnership."
Much of that belief lies in their complementary strengths. Befitting her size, Bach excels at the net. "She has really good hands," Woodburn said. That means, Bach explained, that "I just have a lot of options at the net so I can finish points with power and precision, getting (the opponent) off court."
One of McCarty's strength is her ability to clean up points from the baseline. "Meg really moves well," Woodburn said, "and she has great precision. She is a super crafty player, very smart and can place a ball anywhere. She can really control the court so well."
Bach's college tennis career began at Delaware in 2019. She finished her freshman season 9-9 in singles and 7-10 in doubles, earning Colonial Athletic Association and ITA academic honors. As a sophomore she earned Second Team All-CAA honors in both singles and doubles, rolling up a 7-0 record at No. 2 doubles.
Bach transferred to Maryland before her junior season, finishing 13-12 in doubles play and 12-10 in singles. As a senior there in 2022-23 she played primarily doubles, rolling up a 19-9 record, including 4-3 in doubles play in Big 10 action, but with one more year of eligibility remaining she entered the transfer portal and found herself at the University of Portland. "I knew two of the girls on the Portland team that are also from England, so I felt comfortable going there."
Woodburn spent the 2021-22 season as an assistant coach at Wisconsin, a year that impacted the current Bobcat team tremendously. That spring she took note of Bach, then at Big 10 rival Maryland, as she excelled in doubles play. And she also began recruiting McCarty, a prep standout from faraway Montana, to UW.
"Meg was a five star, close to a blue chip, recruit so we were talking to her at Wisconsin," Woodburn said. "I think she had a lot of opportunities, but her parents went (to MSU) and I think deep down she wanted to stay close to home and play at MSU."
Securing the Montana State job in August of 2022, Woodburn knew she'd need to build her first Bobcat roster quickly. "As soon as I got the job here I had to take my recruiting test before I could call (recruits), so I told Thijs (Goossens, a former Bobcat tennis start and MSU's Associate AD with oversight of the tennis programs), 'There's a girl in Bozeman who I've already had conversations with at Wisconsin and I heard she's close to committing somewhere else, so I need to tell her I'm here.'"
Immediately after becoming certified to recruit, Woodburn grabbed her phone. "(McCarty) was at (a national tournament) and I called and said, 'I know you're in San Diego right now but I'm at Montana State, I just got the head coach job. Can I come to your house next week?' I think she was really excited at that point, and I didn't even know if we had scholarships but I knew I had to make here a Bobcat."
From her time at Wisconsin, Woodburn knew Bach as a Big 10 rival but also as an athlete who impressed with her competitiveness and acumen. "I got to see her compete (for Maryland) and she had such a presence on the doubles court," Woodburn recalled.
Just over a year ago, in Woodburn's second season at MSU, the Cats played a match at Portland. Bach was redshirting with an injury and had entered the transfer portal. "I asked if we could talk after the match, and it was (a good conversation) so she came on her official visit a couple weeks later. J was a big deal (as a recruit), I had Leon (Costello, MSU's Director of Athletics) visit with her, it went great, and we were fortunate enough to get her. And it's been great."
While sidelined at Portland Bach served as a student assistant coach, an experience she calls invaluable. "I think tactically you see a much bigger picture of the court and of positioning, or what's working and what's not," Bach said. "It's a better overall view of everything, but also of the mental aspect. From an external point of view you can see that one point doesn't determine a match, whereas when you're on the court playing you can feel like after (losing) a big point, it's over. It's tough to reset."
While Bach's tennis travels spanned an ocean and the entire North American continent, McCarty's career took her across the nation as a youth player. "Looking back, it's a little crazy," she said of her youth competition schedule, "and I can't believe that our whole family did this. But we were traveling two, three times a month, and yeah, obviously there are no real tournaments in Montana, or not many, so we'd go to a lot of Las Vegas tournaments, Salt Lake City, Denver."
McCarty maintained her academic work by leaning on the support system her parents Paul and Natalie provided. "Since we've done it from such a young age, the school aspect, you just learn how to time manage and you're able to balance it all. I was really lucky when I traveled, my older sister (Maicy) would also come. So I wasn't alone and we kind of went through it together, which was nice."
While McCarty punctuates her calm and steady demeanor on the court with an intense competitive streak, Woodburn calls Bach "feisty. She's loud on the court, she's a gamer, she's competitive. It's been fun to see the magic the two of them create with their different personalities."
Since the doubles pair formed last fall, Woodburn said the work has been tireless. "They've been very consistent, day in and day out of practice," she said. "When things are going great, they're incredible, but when things are tough and they're not playing their best they still find ways."
Woodburn said the growth continues, even as the season progresses. "I think we continue to work on doubles a lot because it is really important, so it's been fun. It's fun to see their confidence as a team just keep improving. You see them on the court and they have that belief and they have that swagger, regardless if they're playing the No. 29 team in the country, who they beat, they just have that belief that they're gonna win."
Bach and McCarty and their Bobcat teammates play at Sacramento State on Friday at 12 noon MT and at Weber State on March 30 before playing three home matches in April.
#GoCatsGo
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