SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Northern Arizona men's tennis team made it all the way to the Big Sky Championship after pulling off two upsets in the quarterfinals and semifinals that set up a matchup with Idaho in the finals. NAU's season came to an end as the Lumberjacks fell to the Vandals 4-2.

"Today was a tough day," said head coach Ki Kroll. "We came out strong playing very good doubles but in the end Idaho was the better team today."

The Lumberjacks got off to a good start taking the doubles point with victories on courts one and two.  NAU led all three matches but the first two to win their matches were Jordan Gobatie and Alexandre Locci on court one defeating Cristobal Ramos Salazar and Jackson Varney 8-6 and Eden Peleg and Adi Zilberstein on court two with an 8-5 win over Odon Barta and Felipe Fonseca.  

The Lumberjacks were only able to pull out one win in singles play as the Vandals earned wins on courts two, three, four and five. Adi Zilberstein was the second singles match to finish as the native of Israel defeated Alberto Sanz 6-1, 6-1 on court six to give NAU the 2-1 lead. Despite the match going unfinished, Jordan Gobatie came close to clinching his match on court one as he held a 6-2, 6-5 advantage over Odon Barta. Idaho clinched the match on court two as Fonseca defeated Locci 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 to clinch the match.

"I am very proud of the way we fought and competed in today's Big Sky Championship," said Kroll.  

Northern Arizona ends the season with an 11-13 record with a 7-4 record in conference. Coach Kroll continues to build a program that has proved to be a force in the Big Sky Conference. In his first season at NAU, Kroll led NAU back to the Big Sky Championships and made it to the semifinals and this year the Lumberjacks took the next step advancing to the championship match. The Lumberjacks will say bye to their two seniors, Kester Black and Gobatie, as the two combined for 24 victories in singles play this season.  

Results

Doubles

1. Jordan Gobatie/Alexandre Locci (NAU) def. Cristobal Ramos Salazar/Jackson Varney (UI) 8-6
2. Eden Peleg/Adi Zilberstein (NAU) def. Odon Barta/Felipe Fonseca (UI) 8-5
3. Kester Black/Felix Schumann (NAU) vs. Mark Kovacs/Alberto Sanz (UI) 7-6 unfinished

Order of Finish: 1, 2

Singles

1. Jordan Gobatie (NAU) vs. Odon Barta (UI) 6-2, 6-5 unfinished
2. Felipe Fonseca (UI) def. Alexandre Locci (NAU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
3. Cristobal Ramos Salazar (UI) def. Kester Black (NAU) 6-4, 6-2
4. Mark Kovacs (UI) def. Eden Peleg (NAU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Jackson Varney (UI) def. Felix Schumann (NAU) 6-4, 6-0
6. Adi Zilberstein (NAU) def. Alberto Sanz (UI) 6-1, 6-1

Order of Finish: 5, 6, 3, 4, 2