No. 70 Aggies sweep the Grizz

The newly-ranked Utah State men’s tennis team beat Montana Friday while improving to 7-0 on the season.

The Aggies have had Montana on their radar for a while after losing to the Grizz 0-7 last year.

“Montana is the reigning Big Sky champions,” said USU head coach Clancy Shields.”They are well coached and are very strong top to bottom.”

The No. 70 Aggies made quick work of Montana sweeping the Grizz 7-0.

Marcus Fritz and Dennis Baumgartner won the first doubles match with ease, winning 6-1. Jack Swindells and Matt Sweet clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 win, while Karan Salwan and Sebastian Schneider completed the doubles sweep winning 6-4.

The Aggies started singles play on a strong foot when sophomore Swindells took control of the match early and never let up, winning convincingly 6-0, 6-1. Things didn’t get much harder for the Aggies, as sophomore Salwan won in straight sets 6-1, 6-2.

Fritz, a senior, continued the trend of winning straight sets as he clinched the win for the Aggies winning 6-4, 6-2. Straight sets proved to be the popular result of the day as sophomore Baumgartner won 6-4, 6-4, and senior Sweet won 6-2, 6-1.

The Grizz didn’t go down without a fight, forcing their first third set of the day in the last match. Schneider, another sophomore, showed the resilience that earned Utah State its national ranking, winning a marathon match 5-7, 7-5, 10-8, while finishing off the 7-0 sweep of Montana. The Aggies’ next match is January 31 at Utah.

— Joebariolo@gmail.com

Twitter: @joefish_2