ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Northern Arizona women's tennis team traveled to New Mexico to face the University of New Mexico for the Lumberjacks' first road trip of the season. After dropping the doubles point, NAU fought back with three wins in singles play but it wasn't enough as the Lumberjacks fall to the Lobos 4-3. NAU drops to 0-2 on the season.

"I am never satisfied with a loss but I am so proud of the way our team played tonight," said head coach Kim Bruno. "Today's match was a complete turnaround from last week's performance and if we continue to play like this and improve throughout the season, we are going to be a very good team."

The Lobos swept the two doubles matches played on the No. 2 & 3 courts to take an early 1-0 lead. The Lumberjacks stormed back with wins on the courts one, three and six in singles play as the Lumberjacks nearly pulled off the upset in Albuquerque. Emelia Box got the Lumberjacks' first win of the day on court three as she won her second straight match in singles defeating Meredith Hopson 6-2, 4-1.

"Emelia is such a talented player," said Bruno. "When she has the right mindset she is very tough to beat and right now she is playing excellent tennis."

The Lumberjacks then took the lead from their captain Johanna Vang with a dominating 6-4, 6-0 win over Emily Olivier on court one.

"Emelia and Johanna stepped up today in singles," said Bruno. "We needed our top players to step up and that is what they did giving us the lead with some big wins."

The Lobos responded with three straight wins of their own to clinch the match over NAU starting a win on court two as Natasha Smith defeated Hailey Rochin 6-1, 6-4 to tie the match at 2-2. New Mexico clinched the match on court five with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-1win from Rachana Bhat over Livia Hollosy.

Jordan Denesik closed out the match with her own win on court six over Sharon Coone in back-to-back 7-6 sets.

The Lumberjacks have a quick turnaround as they will close out their first two-match road trip of the season tomorrow against the No. 23 team in the country, South Carolina. This will be the first time the schools will meet as they face off in a neutral matchup at the University of New Mexico.

"We face a great team tomorrow in South Carolina," said Bruno. "We have nothing to lose so we are going to go out tomorrow and play our hearts out and compete."

Play will begin at 2 p.m. at the Linda Estes Tennis Complex.

Results

Doubles

1. Dominique Dulski/ Natasha Smith (UNM) vs. Johanna Vang/Emelia Box (NAU) No Result
2. Meredith Hopson/ Emily Olivier (UNM) def. Hailey Rochin/Marta Lewandowska (NAU) 7-5
3. Rachana Bhat/ Sharon Coone (UNM) def. Livia Hollosy/Jordan Denesik (NAU) 6-1

Singles

1. Johanna Vang (NAU) def. Emily Olivier (UNM) 6-4, 6-0
2. Natasha Smith (UNM) def. Hailey Rochin (NAU) 6-1, 6-4
3. Emelia Box (NAU) def. Meredith Hopson (UNM) 6-2, 4-1
4. Dominique Dulski (UNM) def. Marta Lewandowska (NAU) 0-6, 6-4, 6-4
5. Rachana Bhat (UNM) def. Livia Hollosy (NAU) 7-5, 3-6, 6-1
6. Jordan Denesik (NAU) def. Sharon Coone (UNM) 7-6, 7-6