Box Score FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (March 2, 2019) – The Northern Arizona men's tennis team kicked off their home opener with a 5-2 win over Southern Utah. This marks the eighth straight win for the Lumberjacks over the Thunderbirds. The win over SUU pushes the Lumberjacks to a record of 4-6 on the season, while the loss will move the Thunderbirds to a record of 8-4 on the season. NAU now stands at 1-0 in the Big Sky.
"I think every time we get to play at home having the extra energy from the crowd helps with our confidence and leads to better play," NAU head coach
Maciej Bogusz said.
Northern Arizona started the match up 1-0 after taking the doubles point. The Lumberjacks were able to sweep the Thunderbirds in all three doubles matches. The 'Jacks No.1 doubles pair of
Tim Handel and
Ruben Montano were able to take down Salvador Mijares and Agustin Tamagnone of Southern Utah with a score of 6-3. The Lumberjacks sealed the match when the No. 2 doubles of
Chris Steele and Tom Fisher won their match by a score of 7-6. The pair of
Lucas Taylor and
Facundo Tumosa finished off the sweep of SUU with a 7-6 win over Remus Cope and Keonho Shin.
"We had played outstanding in doubles on all of the courts," Bogusz said. "We were up a break, we were down a break, and we just stayed with our game plan of being aggressive."
The Lumberjacks maintained the momentum from doubles and won the first two singles matches. Northern Arizona's No. 2 singles player Taylor, kicked off singles with a 6-1 and 6-4 win over Jonathon Morales. Following Taylor's victory, Montano was able to expand NAU's lead to 3-0 as he won his match against SUU's No.5 singles player Juan Erro by a score of 6-3 and 6-2.
The Thunderbirds were able to make a small comeback as they won back to back singles matches. Both the No. 4 and No. 6 Lumberjack singles fell.
Northern Arizona's most consistent player Handel, was able to then seal the win for the team as he won 7-5 and 6-3. The senior 'jack took down SUU's No.1 singles player Salvador Mijares. After the win was secured,
Chris Steele was able to add another win for the Lumberjacks, as he won the No. 3 singles match against Keonho Shin, 6-3, 4-6 and 6-3.
Looking Forward
Northern Arizona will be back in action on March 9 and 10 as they face off against fellow Big Sky opponents Montana and Montana State.
