PHOENIX, Ariz. – The Northern Arizona women's tennis team lost a nail-biting match to the Idaho Vandals 4-2 in the Big Sky Conference championship tournament finals.
The Lumberjacks end the season as the 2018 Big Sky regular season champions who went 19-4 overall after a perfect 11-0 run during regular season action.
For the third year in a row, the Vandals bested the 'Jacks to become this year's 2018 Big Sky Conference champions.
Despite the loss, Northern Arizona had one of its best seasons finishing just one win away from tying the winningest season record in program history.
"I am so proud of this amazing group of women and the season they had," head coach Maciej Bogusz said. "We definitely left it all on the courts today."
Northern Arizona started strong tying the score with Cora-Lynn von Dungern and Eirene Granville's 6-4 win at the No. 2 position before Chiara Tomasetti and Madi Moore clinched the doubles point with a 7-6(7) win.
The Lumberjacks went into singles 1-0 and struggled to overcome the Vandals in the first sets where only Tomasetti and Moore picked up wins.
Former Big Sky MVP Idaho's Marianna Petrei finished first for the Vandals, tying the score at 1-1 before Lucia Badillos took the lead for Idaho.
Northern Arizona's Tomasetti got the next point on the board for the 'Jacks with a 6-4, 6-1 win before Idaho took the lead yet again.
With the score 3-2 in favor of Idaho, it came down to the final two courts with freshmen Millard and Moore at the No. 4 and No. 5 positions, respectively.
Moore was up against Shion Watabe and was battling it out in the second set after defeating Idaho in the first set 7-5.
One court over, Millard was up against Laura Spataro in the third set after each winning one of their own.
The Vandals overcame Millard and clinched the win and championship 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 at the No. 5 position before Moore could finish her match.
"Congratulations to Idaho, they played great and were the better singles team today across the board," said Bogusz.
Northern Arizona will return the entire seven-woman roster next season and will aim for the first Big Sky Championship since 1999 going into the 2019 season.
"We gained invaluable experience this year, which will pay off in seasons to come," said Bogusz. "I want to say thank you to our fans and everyone on our staff who has helped us win the regular season championship and get this far in the tournament."
Results
Doubles
- Marianna Petrei/Maria Tavares (UI) def. Hanneke Lodewijks/Ellie Millard (NAU) 6-3
- Cora-Lynn von Dungern/Eirene Granville (NAU) def. Laura Spataro/Lucia Badillos (UI) 6-4
- Chiara Tomasetti/Madi Moore (NAU) def. Maggie Chen/Marta Magalhaes (UI) 7-6(7)
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
- Marianna Petrei (UI) def. Hanneke Lodewijks (NAU) 6-0, 6-0
- Chiara Tomasetti (NAU) def. Maria Tavares (UI) 6-4, 6-1
- Lucia Badillos (UI) def. Cora-Lynn von Dungern (NAU) 6-2, 6-2
- Laura Spataro (UI) def. Ellie Millard (NAU) 6-0, 3-6, 6-4
- Madi Moore (NAU) vs. Shion Watabe (UI) 7-5, 6-5
- Maggie Chen (UI) def. Eirene Granville (NAU) 6-2, 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2, 6, 4*
*Clinched Match
