Eddie Biss
Photo by: Bobcat Creative Services
MSU Men's Tennis Team Visits Phoenix for Three Matches
2/14/2025 9:12:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Cats open weekend play at Grand Canyon on Friday
: BOZEMAN, Montana – Growth occurs in different ways at different times. Often it's organic, but that wasn't the case for the Montana State men's tennis team in the two weeks since its last matches.
"February are the dog days, and it's demanding with 6:30 am practices and classes and everything," said Bobcats head coach Mateus Ceolin. "So it's been two weeks where we've had to force some growth. The guys are not necessarily as excited as they were in the beginning, but they're still working hard, we're still working on the fundamentals, we're still trying to figure out our identity on the tennis court."
Montana State heads to Phoenix this weekend for a road match at Grand Canyon at 2 pm MT on Friday followed by contests against UC San Diego on Saturday and Hawaii on Sunday. Both neutral court matches begin at 10 am MT, and all three matches are played outdoors.
Ceolin is excited about the opportunity presented his team this weekend. "As we head into this weekend I still believe the guys are excited to play and to compete outdoors and to get a little sunshine. But that excitement from the first month is replaced by, 'Now we're getting to work.' And my message to the guys is, 'How bad do you want it?' Now we find out who is serious about tennis, because now is the time when things get tough."
Each of this week's opponents pose challenges. Grand Canyon enters weekend play with a 3-2 mark with wins over New Mexico State, Loyola Marymount and Western New Mexico. The last two matches, against Santa Clara and DePaul, resulted in the team's first two losses of the spring. UC San Diego is 1-2, with a win over Point Loma and two losses to San Diego State. Hawaii is 1-6 on the season against a brutally difficult schedule, losing to Florida State, SMU, Arkansas (twice), Nevada and Hawaii Pacific before a win against North Dakota.
"In these three matches we're certainly the underdogs," Ceolin said, "so the conversation is that we're not protecting anything. These teams have older players, they have talent, so success this weekend is playing with heart and leaving it all on the tennis court. We've done a pretty good job of that, and if we can do that every single match, play with energy, show fight, and we'll see where that gets us."
One of the focuses during the two-week span away from competition organizing players' games around strengths. Ceolin likes the progress he's seen. "I think Eddie (Biss) has a much clearer idea of how he needs to play, Camille (Chantron) has done an incredible job. He has shown his heart, he's been a guy who's really gotten better and grown. Dima (BezborodovO has been Dima, he's steady."
Ceolin says this weekend's matches loom large for an array of reasons. "This weekend is important to play outside," he said. "As we move on we play Sac State outside, and you don't want a conference match to be your first match outside, so this weekend will set us up that way. Plus this is our last bit of non-conference play so we can fully see where we're at and what adjustments we need to make leading up to our first conference match against Weber State."
Next week, the Cats play a non-league match at Idaho State on Friday before opening Big Sky play at Weber State on Saturday.
#GoCatsGo
"February are the dog days, and it's demanding with 6:30 am practices and classes and everything," said Bobcats head coach Mateus Ceolin. "So it's been two weeks where we've had to force some growth. The guys are not necessarily as excited as they were in the beginning, but they're still working hard, we're still working on the fundamentals, we're still trying to figure out our identity on the tennis court."
Montana State heads to Phoenix this weekend for a road match at Grand Canyon at 2 pm MT on Friday followed by contests against UC San Diego on Saturday and Hawaii on Sunday. Both neutral court matches begin at 10 am MT, and all three matches are played outdoors.
Ceolin is excited about the opportunity presented his team this weekend. "As we head into this weekend I still believe the guys are excited to play and to compete outdoors and to get a little sunshine. But that excitement from the first month is replaced by, 'Now we're getting to work.' And my message to the guys is, 'How bad do you want it?' Now we find out who is serious about tennis, because now is the time when things get tough."
Each of this week's opponents pose challenges. Grand Canyon enters weekend play with a 3-2 mark with wins over New Mexico State, Loyola Marymount and Western New Mexico. The last two matches, against Santa Clara and DePaul, resulted in the team's first two losses of the spring. UC San Diego is 1-2, with a win over Point Loma and two losses to San Diego State. Hawaii is 1-6 on the season against a brutally difficult schedule, losing to Florida State, SMU, Arkansas (twice), Nevada and Hawaii Pacific before a win against North Dakota.
"In these three matches we're certainly the underdogs," Ceolin said, "so the conversation is that we're not protecting anything. These teams have older players, they have talent, so success this weekend is playing with heart and leaving it all on the tennis court. We've done a pretty good job of that, and if we can do that every single match, play with energy, show fight, and we'll see where that gets us."
One of the focuses during the two-week span away from competition organizing players' games around strengths. Ceolin likes the progress he's seen. "I think Eddie (Biss) has a much clearer idea of how he needs to play, Camille (Chantron) has done an incredible job. He has shown his heart, he's been a guy who's really gotten better and grown. Dima (BezborodovO has been Dima, he's steady."
Ceolin says this weekend's matches loom large for an array of reasons. "This weekend is important to play outside," he said. "As we move on we play Sac State outside, and you don't want a conference match to be your first match outside, so this weekend will set us up that way. Plus this is our last bit of non-conference play so we can fully see where we're at and what adjustments we need to make leading up to our first conference match against Weber State."
Next week, the Cats play a non-league match at Idaho State on Friday before opening Big Sky play at Weber State on Saturday.
#GoCatsGo
2020 Hype Video
Thursday, February 13
Men's Tennis Preview | Sac St & Idaho St
Wednesday, April 05
AD Peter Fields and Coach Ash's Remarks Logo Press Conference Remarks
Wednesday, April 17
Cat Dancers - Feb. 24, 2013
Monday, March 25
