ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (March 8, 2019) – The doubles point went in New Mexico's favor and the Lobos emerged from a grinding match on Friday with a 4-3 victory over the Northern Arizona women's tennis team. The Lumberjacks dropped their second consecutive match and are 4-6 overall this spring.
"We had a very poor performance in doubles and it hurt us today," said head coach
Ewa Bogusz. "We didn't trust it nor did we make enough adjustments. We came back tough in singles again, but it wasn't enough. At the end of the day, it's these types of experiences that will make us stronger for the rest of the season."
With the teams splitting singles play down the middle, New Mexico's doubles point proved to be the difference in the match with the Lobos winning at No. 1 and 3 by identical 6-2 scores. At the conclusion of doubles play, senior
Hanneke Lodewijks and sophomore
Ellie Millard were ahead at No. 2, 5-4, against Hsiang-Wen Huang and Yue Lin Chen.
Each team posted three victories in singles play with junior
Chiara Tomasetti, freshman
Adrianna Sosnowska and freshman
Emilie Haakansson accounting for the Lumberjacks' wins.
Haakansson quickly knotted the match at 1-1 with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Danielle Quevedo at No. 4 singles only for the Lobos to move back ahead with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 5. With those two matches in the books, NAU and New Mexico engaged in a battle on the four remaining courts.
Tomasetti extended her win streak to nine matches, but it was not easy as Ruth Copas matched her point-for-point in the first set. However, Tomasetti prevailed with a 7-6(6) first set win and then put away Copas, 6-0, in the second set to improve to 9-0 in singles play at the No. 1 position.
Tomasetti's win pulled NAU even at 2-2, but New Mexico sealed the win with victories at No. 2 and 6. Junior
Sydney Roman – playing in her first career match – held off a set to force a second-set tiebreaker before Yue Lin Chen pulled out a 6-1, 7-6(6) victory on court six. The Lobos clinched the match one result later with Bronte Murgett defeating Millard, 7-6(0), 6-4.
Although the match was clinched, Sosnowska closed the afternoon with a three-set victory over Huang at No. 3 singles. Sosnowska battled back from a first set loss to earn a 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 win to provide the final margin.
NAU will have a week off before taking on Fresno State next Friday to start a two-match road trip. First serve between the Lumberjacks and Bulldogs will be at 5 p.m.
Results:
Doubles:
