GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - The Montana State Billings men's tennis team continued its late season surge with a pair of wins Friday versus Colorado Christian and at Mesa State. The fourth-ranked team in the Central Region defeated CCU 9-0 and downed Mesa State 8-1. The Jackets improved to 8-7 overall and 4-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
Meanwhile, the Yellowjacket women lost a tough 6-3 decision to Colorado Christian and an 8-1 loss to Mesa State. MSUB fell to 6-11 on the year and 1-5 in conference play.
"Men's tennis showed strongly in its final week of conference competition prior to the RMAC Championships," MSUB head coach Lew Kosich said. "We had good wins with a 9-0 victory over Colorado Christian in the morning and then came back with an 8-1 win against Mesa State. The final match of hte 2011 regular season will be at 9 a.m. tomorrow against a very strong Sonoma State team."
Against Colorado Christian on the men's side, the Jackets dominated each match as Nos. 2 and 3 doubles didn't lose a game and the Jackets lost just 10 game combined in all six singles matches. Both Brad Knutson and Thomas Staffileno didn't lose a game at Nos. 5 and 6 singles, respectively.
On the women's side, the Cougars won all three doubles matches for a 3-0 lead. The two teams split the six singles matches. Junior Johnna Beatty, graduate Maria Peterson and freshman Kayla Rochin each had straigh-set wins at Nos. 3, 4, and 6, respectively for the Jackets.
The Yellowjacket men won two of the three doubles against Mesa State and won all singles to win the match. Freshman Kavindu Gamage battled back from a first set loss at No. 3, to win 6-2 and 6-3 in sets two and three. It was the only match which went three sets.
Peterson was the bright spot for the Jackets against Mesa State on the women's side. She downed Kate Lowder at No. 4 singles in three sets, 6-4, 0-6, 1-0(0) for the lone win.
The Jacket men play Sonoma State Saturday while the women look to avenge an earlier season loss to Colorado State Pueblo.
