MISSOULA — With a share of the Large Sky Convention regular-season title on the road for the Montana State males’s tennis crew Saturday, the Bobcats bounced rival Montana on the Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Heart in Bozeman.
With the win, Montana State completed 7-1 in league duals, tying Idaho for prime honors. The Vandals earned the No. 1 seed heading into the league tourney Thursday in Phoenix as a result of they beat MSU in Bozeman earlier this month.
The Grizzlies dropped the doubles level for the fourth time in a row in Large Sky duals, giving the hosts the higher hand heading into singles. The successful doubles groups for the hosts have been Daan Van Dijk/Nejc Sitar at No. 2 and Bradley Buckland/Marcos Zelver at No. 3.
Mantej Panik stored the momentum going for the Bobcats with a straight-set win at No. 2 singles over Lawrence Sciglitano, 6-3, 6-1. Montana No. 1 singles participant Ed Pudney then gave his crew a win, topping Van Dijk, 7-6, 6-0.
Montana State went up 3-1 when Buckland secured a win over Gustav Thielgaard at No. 4 singles, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Jamieson Nathan then clinched the crew win for the Cats with a hard-fought victory over Oisin Shaffrey at No. 3 singles, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.
The No. 5 and No. 6 singles matches have been nonetheless being contested at press time.
Montana completed 5-3 in Large Sky duals and can take the No. 4 seed into the league tourney. The Grizzlies will play No. 3 seed Northern Arizona Thursday. The 2021 Large Sky champion Jacks beat the Grizzlies in Missoula on April 3.
—Invoice Speltz, 406mtsports.com