FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 10, 2019) – Utah State claimed a hard-fought doubles point and the Northern Arizona women's tennis team could not completely come back from it in suffering a 4-2 loss on Sunday. The loss was NAU's first at home in the Aquatic and Tennis Complex since 2016.
"It's tough any time you lose the doubles point, but that's not an excuse," said head coach
Ewa Bogusz. "We expected that (Utah State) would be tough and we expected a fight, and I'm not sure we believed we could come back today. If we want to win these types of matches in the future, we have to be on the same page and leave it out on the court."
The Aggies ended the Lumberjacks' home win streak at 23 matches by holding off the 'Jacks (3-4) in singles play. After NAU tied the match at 2-2 with consecutive wins by junior
Chiara Tomasetti and freshman
Emilie Haakansson, Utah State quickly clinched the match in rapid succession on courts three and five.
Tomasetti and freshman
Adrianna Sosnowska got NAU off on the right foot by handing Utah State's Hannah Jones and Alexandra Taylor their first doubles loss of the season, 6-3, at No. 1. However, Utah State rallied to snag tightly contested 7-5 wins at No. 2 and 3 and the corresponding doubles point.
The Aggies immediately held a 2-0 advantage with the doubles point and an uncontested win at No. 6 singles, but the 'Jacks answered with a pair of singles wins to even the match. Tomasetti put NAU on the board with another convincing singles victory at No. 1 versus Jones by a 6-0, 6-2 score. Haakansson then knocked off Taylor, 6-0, 6-4 at No. 4.
With NAU owning the momentum, Utah State snatched it away immediately by winning on court five to move within a point of the road win. The Aggies would clinch the match at No. 3 with both of their final two singles wins coming in straight sets.
At the time of clinching, sophomore
Ellie Millard was on the verge of NAU's third singles victory at No. 2. Millard took the first set, 6-2, against Alexandra Pisareva and was leading the second set, 5-4.
Next up for the Lumberjacks is a single match in Las Vegas versus UNLV on Thursday at 11 a.m. MST.
Results:
Doubles:
- Chiara Tomasetti/Adrianna Sosnowska (NAU) def. Hannah Jones/Alexandra Taylor (USU), 6-3
- Annaliese County/Lucy Octave (USU) def. Hanneke Lodewijks/Ellie Millard (NAU), 7-5
- Alexandra Pisareva/Sidnee Lavatai (USU) def. Emilie Haakansson/Madi Moore (NAU), 7-5*
*Clinched Doubles Point | Order of Finish: (1, 2, 3)
Singles:
- No. 106 Chiara Tomasetti (NAU) def. Hannah Jones (USU), 6-0, 6-2
- Ellie Millard (NAU) vs. Alexendra Pisareva (USU), 6-2, 5-4 unfinished
- Lucy Octave (USU) def. Adrianna Sosnowska (NAU), 6-3, 6-3**
- Emilie Haakansson (NAU) def. Alexandra Taylor (USU), 6-0, 6-4
- Rhoda Tanui (USU) def. Madi Moore (NAU), 6-1, 6-3
- Gabrielle Dekkers (USU) def. NAU, by forfeit
**Clinched Match | Order of Finish: (6, 1, 4, 5, 3)
