Box Score Las Vegas, Nev. (January 26, 2019) – Northern Arizona men's Tennis team kicked off its 2019 season in a 4-3 victory over the University of Portland. The win moved NAU to 1-0 on the season and Portland to 1-2.
The Lumberjacks were able to pick up the first of their four points in the match after taking two of the three doubles matches. The two winning doubles teams were the No. 1 pair of
Tim Handel and
Ruben Montano and the No. 3 pair of Tom Fisher and
Chris Steele. The duo of Handel and Montano won 6-3, while Fisher and Steele won 6-4.
With the 1-0 lead heading into singles the 'Jacks lost their first two matches to fall to 1-2 on the day. NAU lost the No. 3 and the No. 6 singles. After the back to back losses, Northern Arizona was able to get back on track with a victory from
Lucas Taylor, the NO. 2 singles player for NAU by a score of 7-5 and 6-1.
With the match being all tied up at 2-2, the Lumberjacks fell down 2-3 when the No.4 Singles lost. With being just one loss away from losing the match, the reliable
Tim Handel was there for the 'Jacks as he picked up a win in the No. 1 position with a score of 6-4 and 7-6.
With everything all tied up, it all came down to the freshman
Facundo Tumosa in the No. 5 position for Northern Arizona. Tumosa was able to win the first set 7-6 but unfortunately fell in the second set 6-4. The entire match came down to the final set where the freshman was able to pull out the win for the Lumberjacks with a 6-3 victory.
"Our guys came hungry to play today, the energy was electric," NAU head coach
Maciej Bogusz. "I couldn't imagine a better way to start the season. It was a team effort, and that's something we are big into. Special congrats to Facundo for clinching the match for us. We are going to celebrate the win for today and are going to be going back to work on improving our game starting with the first practice on Monday."
NAU will be back in action next Saturday, Feb. 2 in Salt Lake City, Utah to take on Utah.
