FLAGSTAFF, Arizona (March 21, 2019) – The Northern Arizona men's tennis will be back in Flagstaff, Ariz. as the team takes on Idaho State and Portland State on Friday, March 22 and Sunday, March 24.
"The team is definitely excited to play at home this weekend, we have been on the road for a very long time," NAU head coach
Maciej Bogusz said. "We look forward to continuing to work on ourselves and the things we can control."
The Lumberjacks are coming into the weekend matches with a record of 8-6 on the season while being 3-0 in the Big Sky. NAU is currently on a five-match winning streak that started on March 2, when the 'Jacks took down Southern Utah. Since then, Northern Arizona has only dropped eight points.
NAU is coming off of a weekend in which the team went 2-0, with a 6-1 win over Northern Colorado and a 4-3 win over Denver. In the matches, the 'Jacks went 4-1 in doubles with their No. 1 pair of
Tim Handel and
Ruben Montano leading the team with two wins. In singles, the Lumberjacks went 8-4 over the two matches with three separate players picking up two wins. The three players were Handel, Montano, and
Tom Fisher.
On the season, Handel is Northern Arizona's top singles player as he not only is the team's No. 1 singles player, but he also is 11-1 on the season, which leads the Big Sky. Handel has also picked up two Big Sky Player of the week honors for his performances on the court. Along with Handel, fellow senior Fisher has played well recently as he has won his last four singles matches.
In doubles, the Lumberjacks have found had success on the season as they have won the doubles point in their last five matches. The 'Jacks top doubles duo is Handel and Montano who are 8-4 on the season.
Matchups
Entering the match on March 22, Idaho State is 5-7 on the season and 2-1 in the Big Sky. The Bengals will enter Friday coming off of a 4-1 loss to UNLV, who NAU fell to earlier this season 7-0.
In singles, ISU's No.1 singles player is David Felix, who is 4-4 on the season, while the team's No. 2 player Peter Trhac leads Idaho State with six wins.
In doubles, Idaho State's No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams lead the Big Sky in winning percentage. The Bengals No. 1 pair is made up Trhac and Flynn Lohse who are 4-1 on the season, while the No. 2 doubles is made up of Gary Rendek and Felix, who are currently 5-1.
Portland State will be entering the weekend with a record of 9-3 on the season and 4-1 in the Big Sky. Similar to the Lumberjacks, PSU has caught fire lately and has won its last four matches.
Portland State has found a lot of success in singles on the season as the team has won 68% of its matches, with Tommy Edwards and Matteo Fortini both having nine wins apiece. The No. player for PSU is Fortini, although he has seen some time at the No. 2 position.
In doubles, all three of the duos for PSU have seven wins on the season. The top pair for Portland state is Avery West and Edwards.
