Men’s tennis on track for three days of competition

The University of Montana men’s tennis team has lost just once this season and is perfect against Big Sky Conference opponents.

But then again, Montana has only played four matches this season.  Most of the other teams in the Big Sky have played 10, and some have played upwards of 15.

Montana will see just how it stacks up in the conference today when it hosts defending Big Sky Conference champion and preseason favorite Sacramento State at 2 p.m.

The Griz were scheduled to play the Hornets outdoors at the Lindsay Tennis Center on campus, but the venue was changed. The game will now be played indoors at the former Missoula Athletic Club tennis bubble.

UM head coach Kris Nord said it is an advantage to play the Hornets inside the bubble.

Sacramento State has been playing outside for over a month.  The adjustment the Hornets will have to make going from outdoors to indoors should be in Montana’s favor, Nord said.

The Hornets currently sit second in the Big Sky at 8-7 overall and 2-0 in league play.

“We are hoping to surprise them a bit, but they are very good,” Nord said. “Looking at their record, nobody has pushed them too much in the Big Sky so far.  We would like to get that going and see how they react to a little pressure.”

Freshman David Cysneiros said playing fewer games has its advantages along with the obvious disadvantage of not being as experienced.

“We will be a little bit fresher and a little more keen to win in comparison to them,” Cysneiros said. “They have played a ton more matches than we have, so hopefully they have some more bumps on their bodies.”

Sophomore Mikolaj Borkowski said a matchup against the Hornets could set the tone for the rest of the year.

“Winning against Sacramento State is always huge because they are the favorites in the conference.  They have a really strong team,” he said. “It would be a really big boost for our confidence.”

On Saturday, Montana travels to Bozeman to face the Idaho Vandals at 3 p.m. before closing out the weekend with a match against the Bobcats Sunday morning at 10.

Borkowski said he was glad that Montana was able to kick off the weekend against Sacramento State.

“It is always hard to play three days in a row,” he said.  “The second day is usually tougher and then the third one can be real difficult to step up and do your best when you have already played two difficult matches.”

Cysneiros said the team is confident going into the weekend.

“So far we haven’t had many matches, but in the matches we’ve had we have shown what we are capable of,” he said.

Nord said it is good to be confident, but the team needs to show up on the court.

“We have three days in a row of competition of teams that if we don’t play well it is not going to be a pretty sight out there,” he said. “We need to take advantage of the competition because we have had so little of it so far.”