Oct. 22, 2012

The Montana Grizzlies men's tennis team had a strong showing this past week at the ITA Mountain Regionals in Las Vegas.

The ITA Regionals were held at the Darling Tennis Center Oct. 17-20.

Mikolaj Caruk won his match in the round of 64 before being defeated by Charlie Alvarado of UNLV in the round of 32.

Michael Facey won his first match in the main draw, but lost the next match. He then defeated Johannes Markel of UNLV in a round three consolation match. Semion Branzburg, Andrew Warren and Ethan Vaughn also won consolation round matches.

All the doubles team lost out in the first round of 64. Doubles team Eric Braun and Facey made it to the third round of consolation doubles. They were defeated by Scott Bohne and Nikki Rae of BYU.

"Overall, I was happier with what I saw at this tournament," said head coach Kris Nord. "It was a good trip, and Mikolaj and Mike had some good singles matches. Things are more upbeat after the tournament."

Abid Akbar and Marius Cirstea of Idaho won the doubles main draw, and Enej Bonin of the University of Denver took home the singles title.

The ITA Regionals tournament marks the end of the fall season for the Grizzlies. The team will continue to practice for a few more weeks indoors. Montana kicks off its spring season Jan. 19 at Boise State.