Box Score SPOKANE, Wash. — The Gonzaga men's tennis team opened up the year with a 5-2 win over Montana on Saturday afternoon at the Stevens Center.
 
The victory was the first of new head coach Jonas Piibor's career and got the Zags off to a 1-0 start on the season.
 
"I thought we came out with great energy, and we hung in there to take the doubles point," Piibor said. "We carried that momentum into singles and did a pretty good job at most of the spots in the lineup. At 5 and 6, we had a tough first set, but I thought Kyle (Everly) and Matthew (Perkins) were great closing out the matches. We have a lot of things to continue to work on, but we'll bring that into next week and keep getting better."
 
Gonzaga took a tight doubles point with wins on No. 1 and No. 3. The top duo of Sam Feit and Ruadhan O'Sullivan set the tone for the day with a dominating 6-1 win. The final two courts stayed on serve until Gonzaga broke Montana to make it 4-3 on each. After the Griz earned back the break on two, it was GU who held strong on the way to a 6-4 win by Kyle Everly and Hunter Egger on No. 3.
 
In singles, GU took the first set on five of the six courts to put the pressure on the Griz. On No. 1, Feit continued to show off his game with a 6-2, 6-0 win to make it 2-0. O'Sullivan then followed shortly after with a 6-1, 6-4 win to set up the clinching point for Gonzaga.
 
Matthew Perkins came through for the Zags with a near-perfect second set to win 7-5, 6-1 and seal the victory.
 
Everly grabbed a singles victory of his own on No. 6 with a 7-5, 6-2 win.
 
GU will be back in action on Jan. 26 vs. Montana State at 10 a.m. in Boise, Idaho.