Pullman, Wash. - The Eastern Washington University women's tennis team second weekend of dual match play was highlighted by a victory over Montana on Sunday, Jan. 24, the program's first win over the Grizzlies since 2009.

Eastern, which fell to Pac-12 member Washington State on Saturday, Jan. 23, now sits at 2-2 on the season after this weekend's matches.

The Eagles closed out their weekend with a neutral site victory over Montana. In the doubles competition, the team of juniors Dani Young and Katrina Domingo beat the pair of Kincaid and Sulz, 6-2, while Blessing and Moira earned another strong win, 6-2 over Dukic and Orfanos.

With the double point going to EWU, singles matches were next. Number one seed, Smith defeated Montana's Dean Francis in dominate fashion, 6-0, 6-2. Sophomore Rachell Swindell won a competitive match against Hannah Sulz 7-5, 6-4, while Blessing rallied back in three sets against Cam Kincaid, winning 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, and Freshman Faye Worrall defeated Catherine Orfanos 6-3, 6-1.

"It was really a monumental win for our program, and was very exciting for the team. We have been working hard on controlling our effort and our energy and allowing everything else to fall into place. This win is a result of improving our mental approach to each point.  The team has really stepped up their mental awareness of what we can control and what we cannot control and then getting out there and giving it their full effort with positive energy.  I'm proud of what we are doing here in our program and I'm excited about the matches to come," said head coach Dustin Hinson.

In the first team event against Washington State, the team of junior Erin Blessing and senior Moira Hedberg defeated the WSU pairing of Miksovska and Michalkova 6-2. The Cougars took the other two matches, and although ultimately losing, sophomore Janaya Smith and freshman Faye Worrall had a strong performance against Biryukova and Trang, in a tiebreaker match ending 7-6 (10-1).

"We have a lot of hard work ahead of us this season but it's great to get this win to justify the hard work we've already put in.  We know that if we want to play like a champion, we need to practice like a champion...and that's what we are motivated to do this coming week as we prepare for our home opener against a strong Nevada team."

Eastern has its 2016 home opener against Nevada on Friday, Jan. 29. Whitman also travels to Cheney on Saturday, Jan. 30. Both matches begin at 3 p.m. PST.

Results:

Eastern Washington – 0
Washington State – 7

Doubles:

1. Biryukova, Maria/Huynh, Trang (WSU) def. SMITH, Janaya/WORRALL, Faye (EWU) 7-6 (10-1)
2. Bashota, Donika/Matejevic, Victoria (WSU) def. YOUNG, Dani/DOMINGO, Katrina (EWU) 6-0
3. HEDBERG, Moira/BLESSING, Erin (EWU) def. Miksovska, Aneta/Michalkova, Barbora (WSU) 6-2

Singles:

1. Biryukova, Maria (WSU) def. SMITH, Janaya (EWU) 6-0, 6-0
2. Bashota, Donika (WSU) def. HEDBERG, Moira (EWU) 6-1, 6-2
3. Michalkova, Barbora (WSU) def. YOUNG, Dani (EWU) 6-1, 6-0
4. Huynh, Trang (WSU) def. SWINDELL, Rachel (EWU) 6-3, 6-1
5. Miksovska, Aneta (WSU) def. BLESSING, Erin (EWU) 6-1, 6-0
6. Matejevic, Victoria (WSU) def. WORRALL, Faye (EWU) 6-0, 6-1

Eastern Washington – 5
Montana – 2

Doubles:

1. Dean, Francis/Driver, Haley (UM) def. SMITH, Janaya/WORRALL, Faye (EWU) 7-5
2. DOMINGO, Katrina/YOUNG, Dani (EWU) def. Kincaid, Cam/Sulz, Hannah (UM) 6-2
3. BLESSING, Erin/HEDBERG, Moira (EWU) def. Dukic, Lidia/Orfanos, Catherine (UM) 6-2

Singles:

1. SMITH, Janaya (EWU) def. Dean, Francis (UM) 6-0, 6-2
2. Driver, Haley (UM) def. HEDBERG, Moira (EWU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
3. SWINDELL, Rachel (EWU) def. Sulz, Hannah (UM) 7-5, 6-4
4. Dukic, Lidia (UM) def. YOUNG, Dani (EWU) 6-2, 6-4
5. BLESSING, Erin (EWU) def. Kincaid, Cam (UM) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
6. WORRALL, Faye (EWU) def. Orfanos, Catherine (UM) 6-3, 6-1