GOLD RIVER, Calif. – The Northern Arizona University men's tennis team took down Montana State University for the second straight time in the first round of the Big Sky Conference Championships. The Lumberjacks – at the No. 3 seed – will face the No. 2 seed University of Idaho tomorrow, April 30 in the semifinals at 4:30 p.m. Head Coach Ki Kroll and his squad improve to 13-11 overall this season.

"Today was a really good first day," Kroll said. "We started off a little nervous in doubles, but I thought we really got going after that. In singles everybody came to compete. We were up on every court and that's what you want. It's a big adjustment coming from altitude playing at sea level, but that's the whole idea of our preseason. By the time we get here, we're ready to play our best."

To start off tournament action, NAU secured the doubles point over the Bobcats thanks to Tim Handel and Ruben Montano on court one and Eden Peleg and Lucas Taylor on court two. Doubles tandem Handel/Montano were the first to finish as they bested Alexander Flink and Harry James 6-4 to improve to 6-7 on the year. Clinching the doubles point, Peleg/Taylor rallied from a slow start to get the 6-2 win and reel in their seventh victory of the season to just one loss.

In singles, Taylor, Peleg and Schumann all put NAU on the board with Schumann clinching the match on court three. Court two was the first to finish as Taylor defeated his opponent in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. Peleg finished almost simultaneously at line four where he ousted Rok Sitar 6-2, 6-1. With Schumann and Handel both nearing the end of a straight set victory, Schumann rattled off his 13^th win over Harry James with a final score 6-3, 6-4 to give Northern Arizona its match-winning fourth point.

Northern Arizona will square off against Idaho tomorrow afternoon in the Big Sky Tournament Semifinals. The match is tentatively scheduled for 4:30 p.m. indoors as opposed to the original 2 p.m. start due to predicted 40 mile per hour winds. In Coach Kroll's previous two seasons, the 'Jacks have advanced to the Big Sky Championship and look to do the same in 2016.

Results

Doubles

1. Tim Handel/Ruben Montano (NAU) def. Alexander Flink/Harry James (MSU) 6-4
2. Lucas Taylor/Eden Peleg (NAU) def. Kellen Bates/Mateus Ceolin (MSU) 6-2
3. Felix Schumann/Jackson Lee (NAU) vs. Dylan Harvala/Rok Sitar (MSU) 5-4, unfinished

Order of finish: 1, 2

Singles

1. Tim Handel (NAU) vs. Kellen Bates (MSU) 6-4, 5-6, unfinished
2. Lucas Taylor (NAU) def. Alexander Flink (MSU) 6-2, 6-3
3. Felix Schumann (NAU) def. Harry James (MSU) 6-3, 6-4
4. Eden Peleg (NAU) def. Rok Sitar (MSU) 6-2, 6-1
5. Ruben Montano (NAU) vs. Mateus Ceolin (MSU) 6-3, 5-4, unfinished
6. Jackson Lee (NAU) vs. Dylan Harvala (MSU) 5-7, 6-2, unfinished

Order of finish: 2, 4, 3