There's no real way to sugarcoat it. There have been far more valleys than peaks for the 2008 University of Montana soccer team. This weekend could be one of the high points of the season even if the team is playing near sea level.
Under the direction of fifth-year head coach Neil Sedgwick, this year's Grizzlies have stumbled to a 1-5-0 start. Maybe that could be expected with 14 new players on the team.
But blue skies, or bluer water, are on the horizon. The Grizzlies fly to Honolulu to play a pair of matches in the three-team University of Hawaii Soccer Classic. They'll face host and defending Western Athletic Conference champion Hawaii (2-3-1) on Thursday night and 23rd-ranked UC Santa Barbara (5-2-0) on Friday.
Montana will have a pair of able tour guides when they arrive. Both junior defender Kristyn Shapka and junior forward Britta Bourne left UM to join Hawaii this fall. Though Bourne won't suit up to face her old teammates as some of her credits didn't transfer, she's more than just a little happy about the prospect of hosting her old pals.
“I'm so excited to see everybody,” she said by phone Monday. “I mean these girls are some of my best friends ... my college friends and I can't wait to see them.”
While it may be difficult for their old mates to see Shapka and Bourne on the other sideline sporting the Rainbow Wahine's green, black, silver and white, it's safe to say this will be quite the friendly reunion.
Volleyball
The Grizzlies open the 2008 Big Sky Conference season with two home matches this homecoming weekend.
Montana (4-6), which has lost four straight matches, including all three last weekend at a tournament hosted by Arizona State, meets Northern Colorado (6-1) Friday and Northern Arizona (8-1) on Saturday.
Both matches begin at 7 p.m. at the West Auxiliary Gym.
“Our preseason was tough. We played a very good schedule, and I think it did a good job of preparing us to play at a high level,” UM head coach Jerry Wagner said in a press release. “Now we need to move from that into conference play, where everybody is 0-0. We're playing two teams this weekend that have had a lot of success early on, but they're 0-0 right now, just like everybody else.”
On Friday, early arriving fans can join a birthday party for UM mascot Monte in the East Auxiliary Gym at 6:00 p.m. for birthday cake, games and prizes. Members of the men's basketball team will be on hand, as will Chicago Bulls' mascot Benny the Bull.
Women's tennis
The UM tennis team begins its fall schedule Friday through Sunday at the Washington State Cougar Classic in Pullman, Wash.
The Grizzlies return seven players from last year's squad that finished fourth in the Big Sky Conference at 5-3, 8-12 overall. Montana made its 19th straight appearance at its postseason conference tournament, losing to Eastern Washington, 4-0, in the quarterfinals.
Headlining the returners are senior Liz Walker and junior Danni Paulson. Walker went 4-14 during last spring's dual season while playing at the top of the lineup. Paulson went 8-6, seeing time mainly at No. 3.
The team has a few new faces this season, including head coach Steve Ascher, who joins Montana after spending two years as head coach for the men's and women's teams at Portland State.
Freshmen Lauren Crandall of Missoula and South African native Lauren Gibson have also joined the program.
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