FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (April 25, 2019) – The Northern Arizona men's tennis team will be kicking off its portion of the 2019 Big Sky Championship on Friday, April 25 at 8 a.m. MST against Idaho State. Entering the Championship, NAU entered the event as the No. 1 seed, while ISU entered the event as the No. 6 seed.
"We are excited to start the tournament," NAU head coach
Maciej Bogusz said. "Everyone understands that this is a new season and we need to get to work."
The Lumberjacks will be entering the Big Sky Championship riding a 17 match winning streak that started back on March 2 against Southern Utah. The team was also able to complete a perfect 10-0 Big Sky regular season record, as they were able to lock up the regular season Big Sky Championship. During the regular season, the Lumberjacks were able to take down the Bengals 7-0 on March 22.
Over the 2019 season, the 'Jacks top singles performer was the senior
Tim Handel, who ended the season with a record of 21-1 at the No. position. The impressive resume has landed Handel as the No. 81 ranked singles player in the country. Following Handel in wins on the season was
Facundo Tumosa, who tallied 16 wins in his freshman season at NAU. Tumosa played mostly at the No. 4 this season.
In doubles, Northern Arizona has found a lot of success on the season as all three of its teams have double-digit wins. NAU's top pair in wins is
Tom Fisher and
Chris Steele, who have 17 on the season. Following Fisher and Steele in wins is the double tandems of Handel and Montano and
Lucas Taylor and Tumosa with 14 each.
Matchup
The Lumberjacks will be taking on Idaho State, who has a record of 8-11 on the season while being 5-5 in the Big Sky. The Bengals were able to advance to the semifinals of the Big Sky Championship by taking down Sacramento State 4-2 on April 25.
Idaho State's top singles players are David Felix and Peter Trhac. Felix plays at the No. 1 position for the Bengals where he holds a record of 9-8 on the season, while Trhac has a record of 9-10 at the No. 2 position.
In doubles, ISU's pair with the most wins are Felix and Gary Rendek who have 11. Following Felix and Rendek in wins are Francis Filipovich and Lukas Ridemar with seven.
