FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Northern Arizona women's tennis team returned to Continental Country Club Thursday morning to open their final homestand of the season, and after a dominating effort they turned their three-match losing streak into a thing of the past following a 7-0 shutout of Southern Utah. The Lumberjacks notched wins in each of the three doubles and six singles matches to even their overall record to 9-9 and more importantly move a step closer to clinching a spot in the Big Sky Championships with a 6-2 conference mark.

"We've had opportunities in every match we've played (recently) and we have to get a little tougher every time we step on the court," said head coach Kim Bruno. "In this match today, we got better. We have to gear up for this weekend and this match will only help us to put our best foot forward to win the championship. We're going to be in every match this year and no team is going to blow us out as long as we play great tennis over and over each time we're on the court."

NAU's dominance of the Thunderbirds was on full display from the opening serve in doubles play as the 'Jacks dropped just four combined games in the three matches. At No. 2 doubles, sophomore Hailey Rochin and junior Emelia Box picked up the first win, 6-2, before the tandem of senior Johanna Vang and sophomore Marta Lewandowska clinched the doubles point, 6-1, at No. 1. Moments later, the Lumberjacks' No. 3 team of senior Sarah Maria Spruch and freshman Livia Hollosy wrapped up the opening session with a 6-1 win.

In singles play, the Lumberjacks quickly dispatched the Thunderbirds with a pair of 6-0, 6-0 wins in the first two completed wins. Box, at No. 3, and freshman Sara Brown, at No. 6, failed to drop a game in near perfect efforts to spot NAU to a 3-0 lead in the match.

"I felt pretty confident coming into the match and I don't think the girl I played was really on her game today," Box said. "I grinded it out and made her play balls that she eventually started missing. She played better in the second set, but I was playing the ball rather than the opponent. I stuck to my game and this match will really help our confidence as a team heading into this weekend because we have some big matches."

Junior Jordan Denesik clinched the match in NAU's favor at No. 4 singles with a 6-1, 6-1 win before Lewandowska notched the Lumberjacks' fourth singles win at No. 5 by a 6-3, 6-3 score.

With the match at hand, the Lumberjacks' top two singles players – Vang and Rochin – gutted out wins to close out the day. Vang, who needed to rally from a first set deficit before cruising in the second set, claimed a 7-5, 6-2 win at No. 1 while Rochin battled back from a first set loss – SUU's only set win in singles – to earn a hard fought three-set win, 5-7, 6-4, 10-8, at No. 2.

"You're not going to get an easy match at No. 1, 2 or 3 honestly," Bruno said. "What makes us good though is that we can rely on our depth. We have top players in the Big Sky and for (Johanna and Hailey) to keep working the game plan; it takes two sets to win tennis matches. If we drop a set, we regroup and win the next set and we've seen that all season. As long as we can play two good sets of tennis like Johanna and Hailey did, we're going to win a lot more matches."

The Lumberjacks return to the Continental Country Club courts on Saturday at 9 a.m. when they host Utah State.

Results

Doubles

1. Johanna Vang/Marta Lewandowska (NAU) def. Veronika Rogova/Teresa De Enrique (SUU) 6-1
2. Hailey Rochin/Emelia Box (NAU) def. Evgenia Marushko/Laura Martin (SUU) 6-2
3. Sarah Maria Spruch/Livia Hollosy (NAU) def. Alba Payeras/Emily Lemmon (SUU) 6-1

Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles

1. Johanna Vang (NAU) def. Evgenia Marushko (SUU) 7-5, 6-2
2. Hailey Rochin (NAU) def. Veronika Rogova (SUU) 5-7, 6-4, 10-8
3. Emelia Box (NAU) def. Teresa De Enrique (SUU) 6-0, 6-0
4. Jordan Denesik (NAU) def. Alba Payeras (SUU) 6-1, 6-1
5. Marta Lewandowska (NAU) def. Laura Martin (SUU) 6-3, 6-3
6. Sara Brown (NAU) def. Emily Lemmon (SUU) 6-0, 6-0

Order of Finish: 6, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2