The University of Montana men’s tennis team will continue spring play with matches vs. No. 63 Idaho and Big Sky opponent Montana State in a non-conference Bozeman match, Saturday and Sunday, respectively. February 17 Big Sky Player of the Week Carl Kuschke will be looking to add to his 3-0 streak at No. 3 for the Grizzlies.
The Vandals have had a busy spring, playing 18 matches since Jan 24, high in comparison to three for the Grizzlies. The team has a record of 12-4, notably defeating No. 59 New Mexico State and No. 74 UNLV its way. These wins have distinguished Idaho among the top 75 teams in the nation according to ITA tennis.
UI junior Lachlan Reed went into the spring season ranked in the top 20 singles players in the Mountain region. When combined with teammate Adrian Simon, the duo was considered in the top five of that same region.
Of his Saturday opponent, UM coach Kris Nord said, “Idaho may turn out to be our most competitive match of the season. They have a solid program and several very talented players. We have seen what a few of their guys can do during fall tournaments. Their new guys, Lachlan Reed, out of Austrilia, and Artem Kuzenetsov, from Russia, have significantly strengthened a team that was already tough in this region.
“Montana will have to bring their very best against this team. We have had a great few weeks of practice, being able to get outdoors a good amount in the past week. The guys guys are excited to compete and, looking at the hunger that they showed a few weeks ago, we can expect some solid matches out of them this upcoming weekend.”
The two teams met head-to-head last in 2009 with UM suffering a close, 3-4 loss to the Vandals. In that matchup the Griz snatched wins at the hands of now junior Mikolaj Borkowsi, senior Raydner Ramos and the doubles point won by Ramos with graduated player Filipe Raw and the Borkowski/Kuschke duo.
The Grizzlies most recently saw UI in the October 2 Gonzaga/Eastern Washington Invite. In doubles at Eagle/Bulldog, Kuscke and Borkowski lost to Vandals Reed and Alexandru Joitou in the championship final. In that same tournament, Borkowski fell in singles to UI No. 6, Alan Shin in the round of 16. Demonstrating the incredible depth of the UI team, Joitou, who plays at No. 5 for the Vandals, would go on to defeat Reed for the tournament championship.
Following the tough Vandal challenge Saturday, the Grizzlies will face-off with Montana State Sunday in a non-conference match, which will be an indicator of what will come in the April 18, scheduled conference match. The Bobcats are 3-10 overall and 1-4 in the Big Sky this spring. The Grizzlies dropped a 3-4 result, losing to MSU in a 2009 meeting, and have mixed results vs. MSU players in fall 2009 tournament play.
The Bobcats entered the spring 2010 season with senior Corey Smith ranked seventh in the Mountain region, carried much by his work in the ITA Intermountain regional, where he played to the quarterfinal round in the main draw. In spite of this fall success, Smith has gone 0-4 for MSU, playing only in conference matches this spring.
MSU has seen the best spring results from Pawel Turzanski, a junior who has gone 6-6 at No. 1 this season for the Bobcats. Turzanski, a Lodz, Poland native will face Grizzly junior Borkowski at No.1, making it an all-Polish challenge in the top spot. Borkowski is currently 0-3 for the Grizzlies this spring and is looking to improve upon that record this weekend. At ITA Regionals in November, Turzanski played to the round of 32 while Borkowski was knocked out in the round of 64.
Nord, in his 28th season as UM coach, said, “I refuse to discount any team that we meet as we progress through this season, and our athletes must do the same. Past records matter little on the court and it is important to take a constant guard.
“Our team has a rich history with the Bobcats. They can be tough to beat in their own place, but we are really looking forward to the challenge. We will keep focus going into this match and just hope that we can compete where we know we can.”
Weekend matches are to be played at 10:00 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday at the Bobcat Tennis complex.