BILLINGS — Different schools, different courts, same destination.
Gallatin's Mason McCarty and Missoula Hellgate's Elliotte Banziger have spent four years dominating Montana high school tennis, and now both stand one state tournament away from the kind of legacy few have touched — a fourth consecutive singles championship.
McCarty, who will play college tennis at the University of Montana, hasn't lost a match in his career with the Raptors and has dropped only one set. Gallatin's coach, Colter Curey, said McCarty owns 16 school records.
Banziger, who plans to play tennis at Vassar College, is similarly accomplished. She is also undefeated in her Hellgate career and has lost only one set.
Only eight individuals in state history have achieved a career sweep in singles titles, four boys and four girls. But no pair has done it in the same season. So this is a rarity in Montana tennis — two seniors whose careers have run side by side, now poised to cross the same historic finish line at the same time.
"I want to finish strong," McCarty said. "Definitely don't want to come all this way to stop now. It's crazy to think about how my results have been the past three years. I definitely want to be on that list."
Said Banziger: "It would be amazing to be able to be one of those people. I didn't expect to win as a freshman, and every year I kind of come in trying to do my best, and it's been amazing that I've been able to win three titles."
Spanning the decades, the list of four-time singles champions in Montana is short:
Boys
- Roger Megerth, Missoula County (Hellgate), 1951-54
- Keithan Gregg, Cut Bank, 2001-04
- Kyle Baltrusch, Havre, 2002-05
- Kellen Bates, Kalispell Glacier, 2010-13
Girls
- Jodi Robinson, Hamilton, 1987-90
- Rochelle Auer, Billings West, 1993-96
- Ristine Olson, Missoula Sentinel, 2000-03
- Missy Harris, Billings Senior, 2005-08
McCarty's road to four-timer potential began when he was 6 years old while his older sisters, Maicy and Meg, left a significant on-court impression. Maicy and Meg McCarty would both go on to win titles at Bozeman High and both played college tennis; Meg is currently at the University of Kansas after transferring from Montana State.
Mason's tennis journey later became a year-round venture as he honed his game. Outside of high school, he has been training with coach Max Blancaneaux, a Frenchman and former Boise State player. He also credits Curey's support and guidance during Gallatin's season.
McCarty said his game is built around his serve, which has improved a lot in the past four years. He said he "loves" the consistency of his backhand as well as his court coverage. He'll take that talent to Missoula to join the Montana program under coach Jason Brown, who McCarty said is the reason he picked the Grizzlies.
In 2025, UM won its first Big Sky tournament team championship in 11 years. Brown is a three-time Big Sky tennis coach of the year.
"I can't wait to start hitting with the guys and, you know, just be a part of a team that's super competitive," McCarty said. "But yeah, I definitely want to strive to see how far I can go and how good I can get the next four years, for sure."
Banziger, who was born in Bozeman, played tennis as a kid but further gravitated toward the game, she said, after she "had a couple experiences where I was like, 'Yeah, contact sports aren't my thing.'" Tennis requires refinement and style, and Banziger possesses both.
She moved to Missoula with her family about two weeks before she started eighth grade. Before that, incidentally, Banziger's older sister was a doubles partner with Maicy McCarty at Bozeman High. But Elliotte created a legacy as a member of a strong Hellgate program that has thrived under coach Brian Hanford.
Tennis is also a full-time focus for Banziger. Outside of high school she trains at The Peak in Missoula under Ethan Vaughn, an assistant coach with the Griz men's program who was once a three-time All-Big Sky selection for the Grizzlies.
On the court, Banziger's success is born out of her prowess as a strong baseline player with an efficient forehand. At Vassar, an NCAA Division III program located in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Banziger will foster her love of the game even further.
"I've just had a really great time playing, and it's just been something that's always kind of been there for me throughout good and bad times of my life," she said. "I just knew I wanted to keep it going. So I wanted to play college tennis because I felt like it would be a good thing to keep me grounded in a new place."
The Class AA state tennis tournament will take place May 28-29 at the Flathead Valley Community College courts in Kalispell. It is there that McCarty and Banziger will look to join the elite four-timers list.
And put a cap on their dominance of Montana high school tennis — though neither is looking too far ahead.
"I think I'm just trying to make the most of my senior season," Banziger said. "I got to be a co-captain this year, so I'm trying to do a good job at that. We've got a lot of good young freshmen that are on the team right now, and it's been really fun to watch them grow. And then also we've got a lot of seniors, so it's a really fun dynamic. And, yeah, I'm just trying to play good tennis and support my team. I don't want to put too much pressure on myself."
"I'm still taking every match super serious and preparing as much as I can," McCarty said. "I'm definitely trying to keep that mentality of still wanting it more, just still competing as hard as I can every match."
