PHOENIX, Ariz. (April 26, 2019) – The Northern Arizona women's tennis team is one win away from their second NCAA Tournament appearance after breezing by Southern Utah, 4-0, on Friday in the Big Sky semifinal at the Phoenix Tennis Center. NAU notched its 10th straight win and improved to 14-8 leading into Saturday's conference championship match at 11 a.m.
The Lumberjacks will play Idaho – who outlasted Weber State, 4-3, in the other semifinal – for the Big Sky's automatic NCAA bid for the fourth consecutive year. The Vandals have won the last three years, although the Lumberjacks defeated the Vandals, 4-3, just a week ago in Flagstaff.
The 'Jacks collected a pair of 6-1 doubles wins to wrap up the doubles point and received three quick singles victories from freshman
Adrianna Sosnowska, sophomore
Ellie Millard and junior
Chiara Tomasetti to advance to their fourth straight Big Sky final.
"They played unbelievably and their mindset was in the right place today," said head coach
Ewa Bogusz. "They took care of business and stuck to the plan from the beginning to the end of the match. It was another team effort, like we showed at the end of the season, and there was great teamwork."
NAU earned wins on the second and third courts to gain the early 1-0 advantage. Sophomore
Madi Moore and freshman
Emilie Haakansson rolled past Jessica Stefan and Jana Weiss, 6-1, at No. 3 before Millard and senior
Hanneke Lodewijks clinched the doubles point at No. 2.
Millard and Lodewijks not only posted their ninth consecutive victory, but also easily handed Southern Utah's Daniela Cozzi and Ghita Nassik just their fourth loss of the season by a 6-1 score.
With the doubles point in hand, the 'Jacks won the first set on all six singles courts and ultimately moved on to the final with three straight victories to close out the Thunderbirds. Sosnowska was the first victorious Lumberjack, extending her team-best win streak to five matches, on court four with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Charity Sagiao.
Millard and Tomasetti followed in rapid succession at No. 3 and No. 1 respectively. Millard defeated Zoe Tanti, 6-1, 6-2, and Tomasetti clinched the semifinal victory with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Nassik. Tomasetti's win not only pushed NAU into the championship match, but also set a new single season school record with her 20th victory of the spring.
"We had really good energy and we were pumped up to win," Sosnowska said. "It starts from the first ball and every point counts. It was super important to start strong and overall it was a really good match."
Results:
Doubles:
