TEMPE, Ariz. – The Northern Arizona women's tennis team opened up their season against UC Davis in a neutral match on the campus of Arizona State. The Lumberjacks picked up two wins in singles play but it was not enough as the Aggies defeated NAU 5-2 as the Lumberjacks dropped their season opener.

"This was definitely not the result we were looking for to start the season," said head coach Kim Bruno. "I think as a team we lost that match by a couple of points. It came down to doubles and a couple of deuce-points that did not go our way."

UC Davis started off the match taking a 1-0 lead winning two of three doubles matches. Layla Sanders and Kristy Jorgensen defeated NAU's Johanna Vang and Emelia Box on court one but NAU responded with a win on court two from Hailey Rochin and Marta Lewandowska 7-6 to tie it up at 1-1. The deciding match came on court three as the Lumberjacks' Jordan Denesik and Livia Hollosy had a chance to close the match but were unable to as the Aggies took the deciding match in doubles 7-5.

Lewandowska continued her winning ways going into singles play on court four as she faced Frederique Sleiffer. Lewandowska was able to come up clutch in the first set defeating Sleiffer 7-6 and then the Poland native was able to seal the win in the second set 6-4 to give the Lumberjacks their first win on the day.

In the final match of the day, Box gave NAU their second and final win of the day on court three over UC Davis' Lani-Rae Green. In a tough two-set match, Box defeated Green 7-5 in the first set and ended the match 7-6 in set two.

"Every single match was really tough but Emelia and Marta were able to play within themselves today," said Bruno. "Their rallies were a lot longer than our other ladies and they were more consistent of opening up the court. It was a great performance by those two today."

At the number one slot Vang dropped a tough three-set match to Sanders. After taking the first set 6-3 and being up 4-3 in the second set, Sanders fought back in the second set taking three straight points to force a third set. Sanders would defeat Vang 6-3 in the third set to take home the win.

"The girls need to understand what went wrong in this match," said Bruno. "We were looking to end points to quickly and that is the only thing UC Davis did better than us today."

The Lumberjacks will be back in action next Thursday, Jan. 22, when they travel to face the University of New Mexico.  

Results

Doubles

1. Layla Sanders/ Kristy Jorgensen (UCD) def. Johanna Vang/Emelia Box (NAU) 6-3
2. Hailey Rochin/Marta Lewandowska (NAU) def. Tiffany Pham/ Lani-Rae Green (UCD) 7-6
3. Frederique Sleiffer / Kamila Kecki (UCD) def. Jordan Denesik/Livia Hollosy (NAU) 7-5

Singles

1. Layla Sanders (UCD) def. Johanna Vang (NAU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
2. Tiffany Pham (UCD) def. Hailey Rochin (NAU) 6-4, 6-3
3. Emelia Box (NAU) def. Lani-Rae Green (UCD) 7-5, 7-6
4. Marta Lewandowska (NAU) def. Frederique Sleiffer (UCD) 7-6, 6-4
5. Jessie Lee (UCD) def. Jordan Denesik (NAU) 6-1, 6-3
6. Kamila Kecki (UCD) def. Livia Hollosy (NAU) 6-3, 6-3
7. Kristy Jorgensen (UCD) def. Sara Brown (NAU) 6-3, 6-2
8. Sarah Maria Spruch (NAU) def. Samantha Martino (UCD) 4-6, 6-3, 6-1