GRAND FORKS, N.D. – It was a match full of extended sets, hard-fought battles and tight finishes as North Dakota men's tennis faced Montana State. And it was the Fighting Hawks who emerged victoriously off the final singles result of Sunday afternoon's thriller inside Choice Health & Fitness, collecting an electric 4-3 win.
 
"This was a great opening weekend for our team," said head coach Tom Boysen. "The energy from the crown at Choice was amazing and to come away with two wins bodes well for the season. There are so many positive takeaways from the two matches. I thought our doubles looked fantastic. I'm very excited to see how good we can be in the doubles points all year."
 
Competition started in dominant fashion as Christos Alex and Walker Valentine cruised to a 6-3 win from the No. 3 doubles court. Justin Ilic and Darrshan Suresh Kumar followed suit and logged their first doubles win of the season after collecting their own 6-3 win from the No. 2 position.
 
But even with the 1-0 advantage already secured, Leo Galliano and Kotaro Matsumura continued to go to work from the top spot. The duo fought off an early deficit and soon faced a 5-5 tie. Momentum stayed in the favor of the Hawks, who rallied to end the set at 7-5 and take the doubles clean sweep.
 
One-on-one action started with a steady 6-2, 6-2 victory for Ilic from court No. 4 and Galliano soon dominated in the second set to walk away with the 6-4, 6-1 win from the top spot to push UND ahead at 3-0.
 
Montana State, though, responded in stifling fashion.
 
The No. 3 court saw electric competition as Matsumura rallied back in the first set to tie things up at 6-6 and force a tiebreaker, but he would fall 7-4 in the battle for the decisive seventh point. The same sort of tightknit action continued in the second set but again did not go in favor of the junior, dropping 6-3.
 
Another win for the Bobcats came in another variation of heartbreak from the No. 6 position. Christos clawed his way back to force a tiebreaker in the first set and turned up the fire in the gym with his thrilling 7-3 win for the 7-6 set victory. But the fight came up just short as the senior fell 6-2, 6-2 in the ensuing sets.
 
Still clutching to a 3-2 lead overall, eyes turned to the No. 5 court, where Valentine had dropped the opening set 6-1 but took the first four games of the second set in dominating fashion. The match-up turned gritty as it soon tied up at 6-6 and forced yet another tiebreaker on the day. It was a constant, back-and-forth slugfest with a chance to force a third set on the line, but the battle would end 10-8 in favor of the Bobcats to tie the team score at 3-3.
 
With one court still in action, the spotlight focused down on court No. 2 for the deciding final point. Suresh Kumar showed out early and collected a 6-2 first-set win before the headlining second-set battle. The freshman battled back to tighten things up before eventually tying it at 5-5. Enthusiastic and energetic play from Suresh Kumar pushed the second set to a 7-5 win that clinched the 4-3 defeat of Montana State and moved UND to 2-0 to start the season.
 
"Today's match was just an incredible rollercoaster of momentum from start to finish," said Boysen. "We battled through the emotions and leads changes very well. We are such a new team this year with four freshmen and two junior transfers, so to have this result so early in the season is great.
 
"Congratulations to Leo for stepping into the No. 1 spot as a sophomore and going undefeated this weekend. Also, a huge shout out to Darrshan and Justin for having huge wins tonight in a close match. Excited for Darrshan to get the clinch moment so early in his career."
 
North Dakota will return to action on the road as the Hawks visit Lewis & Clark and Idaho on January 24 and 25, respectively.

For more information on North Dakota men's tennis, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDmtennis.