2005 Tennis Wrap Up

BILLINGS, MT – A schedule heavy with NCAA Division I opponents led to a lopsided record for the Yellowjacket tennis teams in 2005, but each squad closed the season on a high note with wins at the Pacific West Conference Championship Tournament.  The men’s team finished a surprising third at the tournament while the women’s team placed fifth at the six team tourney.

The Yellowjacket men’s team was a combined 1-16 entering the PacWest Championships in Laie, HI, at the end of April.  Their lone win was a 4-3 decision over Colorado College in early March.  Counted among the Jackets’ losses were DI opponents Montana State-Bozeman, University of Montana, Northern Arizona, New Mexico, Gonzaga, and Weber State. 

The Yellowjackets opened the PacWest Championships with an upset win over Hawaii Pacific University.  MSUB took a 2-1 lead against the Sea Warriors after the doubles matches with Sergio Diaz (Jr., Lima, Peru) and Paco Sanchez (So., Las Palmas, Spain) claiming a victory at No. 2 doubles.  The Jackets won by default at No. 3 and again at No. 6 singles.  Kellen Malone (Sr., Havre, MT) and Sean O’Daniel (Sr., Miles City, MT) closed out the win with straight set victories at No. 4 and No. 5 singles respectively.

Following a 6-0 loss to Hawaii-Hilo on the second day of the tournament, the Yellowjackets moved on to face Western New Mexico for third and fourth place.  MSU Billings again jumped to a 2-1 lead after the doubles matches with Diaz and Sanchez winning at No. 2 and O’Daniel and Brian Kasid (Jr., Chaska, MN) at No. 3. 

For the second time at the tournament, the bottom half of the singles draw carried the Jackets to victory.  Positions 4, 5 and 6 all won in straight sets, giving MSUB its highest place ever at the conference tournament.  Malone cruised 6-0, 6-0 at No. 4; O’Daniel won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 5; and Seth Maristuen (Jr., Havre, MT) prevailed 6-0, 6-1 at No. 6.

The Lady Jackets entered the PacWest Championships with a 3-10 mark.  They defeated three opponents from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference during a spring break trip to Colorado, knocking off Colorado-Colorado Springs, Colorado State-Pueblo, and Metro State.  Like the men’s team, the women lost to Montana State-Bozeman and Weber State along the way.

MSU Billings continued its struggles in the first two rounds of the PacWest Championships with losses to Hawaii Pacific and BYU-Hawaii.  In the second day loss to the Seasiders, the Yellowjackets became victim No. 125 in BYU-Hawaii’s string of 130 consecutive victories.  BYUH finally had its NCAA record three year streak broken in the national championship match.

The Yellowjackets rebounded from the opening round losses to finish their season with a notch in the win column, shutting out Western New Mexico in the tourney’s final match.  Playing the singles matches first, the Jackets won all six points and eliminated the need for the doubles matches. 

MSU Billings had straight set wins at the top and bottom of the singles draw sandwiched around a pair of marathon matches.  Brianne Roney (So., Cody, WY) and Becky Fry (Sr., Miles City, MT) sailed through their matches at No. 1 and No. 2 respectively, as did Heidi Lehman (Fr., Billings, MT) and Marta Borges (Fr., Lisbon, Portugal) at No. 5 and No. 6.  With a 4-0 lead, the Yellowjackets needed just one win from their No. 3 or No. 4 players to close the match; they got both.  Margot Merrill-Johnson (Sr., Salt Lake City, UT) held on for a 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 win at No. 3, and Nikki Byrnes (Fr., Brisbane, Australia) rallied for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 4.

At the end of the season, Yellowjacket coach Jerry Peach gives just one individual award each to the men’s and women’s teams: Tennis Student-Athlete of the Year.  For the men in 2005, Maristuen was honored with the award.  The women’s team had a four-way tie, giving the award to Merrill-Johnson, Roney, Fry, and Tia Smith (So., Idaho Falls, ID).

Merrill-Johnson, Smith, Roney and Maristuen also earned PacWest Academic All-Conference honors.  Merrill-Johnson had the highest GPA of any player in the conference with a 3.90.  After graduating with a double major in sociology and history, Merrill-Johnson will use the $7,500 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship she received this fall to attend law school next year.