Kelsey Phillips continued her winning streak as the Montana women’s tennis team lost to Northern Arizona on April 4 in Missoula. The Grizzlies were defeated by the Lumberjacks 5-2 in a Big Sky Conference dual at the Peak Racquet Club.
The match was closer than the final score suggests, with Montana pushing two doubles matches to tiebreakers and earning two singles victories. Phillips stood out for Montana by defeating Northern Arizona’s Patrycja Niewiadomska—who is the reigning Big Sky Player of the Week and a three-time all-conference player—in straight sets on court one. This win marked Phillips’ fifth consecutive victory and kept her unbeaten in league play.
Shivika Agrawal also secured a singles win for Montana on court six, while Kate Prichard won a set before falling on court three. In doubles, Prichard and Kamila Slovakova earned a narrow tiebreaker win on court three, but Page Bott and Kaylin Kielty narrowly lost their match in another tiebreaker, allowing Northern Arizona to take an early lead.
“We had some great opportunities. Kate and Kamila got a nice win at three doubles and we just lost at two doubles in a tiebreaker. That would have been big to secure that point and I think could have maybe swayed the momentum a little bit, especially with Kelsey having a great singles performance,” said head coach Steve Ascher.
Ascher also said: “I think we’re seeing some tighter sets and the team is competing. They’re learning to put it a little more in second sets and keep growing. Sometimes growth takes a little time, but we’re putting in the effort, and the attitude has been good. So, we continue to learn and grow play the long game.” He added praise for Phillips’ composure: “Kelsey’s opponent is a good player, so for her to dominate the first set and keep her cool in the second set and do a good job of mentally staying with it and keeping her composure to finish strong was great.”
With this loss, Montana moves to 2-13 overall this season (0-5 conference), while Northern Arizona improves its record to 6-6 overall (5-2 conference). The Grizzlies will next face Idaho State Bengals at home as part of Sunday’s doubleheader.
