POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State women's tennis team returns to the road to play two matches in Montana. The Bengals face the University of Montana on Friday, February 26 at 10 a.m. and Montana State on Saturday, February 27 at 10 a.m.
A different look for Big Sky Conference Play in 2021
The matches against the schools in Montana will be considered non-conference matches this season and will not count towards either teams' position in making it to the Big Sky Conference tournament. The Big Sky Conference tennis schools have been split into North and South divisions this year with Montana and Montana State competing in the North and Idaho State in the South. Each division will send its top two teams at the conclusion of conference play to the Big Sky Conference tournament.
North Division:
Eastern Washington
Idaho
Montana
Montana State
Portland State
South Division:
Idaho State
Northern Arizona
Sacramento State
Weber State
The Bengals did not play Montana or Montana State last season due to the season being cut short. The last matchup against both teams was almost two years ago during the 2019 season when Idaho State fell to Montana 4-3 but defeated Montana State 5-2.
The Montana Grizzlies are 1-3 on the season with a majority of their matches being canceled so far. The Grizzlies will compete against the Bengals after a 6-1 loss to Gonzaga. Julia Ronney was the lone singles winner with an upset victory which led her to receive last week's Big Sky Player of the Week Honors.
The Montana State Bobcats are 0-2 on the season with losses to Gonzaga and Washington State. Idaho State has won the last two match-ups against the Bobcats.
"We are really excited to play both Montana and Montana State this weekend," said Head Coach
Gretchen Maloney. "We always have really good battles with both schools and with our conference season being different this year we don't get to play them in regular conference play. It will be nice to get to play them for fun. The girls have been working hard at practice and hopefully everyone will be healthy and ready to roll."
