TUCSON, Ariz. (January 20, 2020) – Northern Arizona men's tennis found their first win of the spring season over the University of California, Riverside, of 5-2 over the Highlanders.
In doubles matches, the Lumberjacks won on all three courts. Duo
Facundo Tumosa and
Eban Straker-Meads were the first to complete their set, winning 6-1 over the Highlanders' Andreas Whelan-Merediz and Daniel Velek.
Alex Groves and
Chris Steele finished their set 6-2 next over the Highlanders' brother pair, J. Blando and M. Blando to clinch the doubles point.
Daniel Dillon and
Joachim Schaefer completed their doubles set win of 6-1 over Riverside's Gilbert Chung and and Nabil Abdallah.
Heading into the singles matches, Schaefer finished his first collegiate match as an NAU Lumberjack over J. Blando with a first set score of 6-3 and second set score of 6-1. Finishing after, Straker-Meads swept Abdallah in the first set, winning 6-0. In the second, Abdallah put up more of a fight, but Straker-Meads came up on top still with a final score of 6-4.
Tumosa completed his set third, fighting to win, but ultimately fell to Chung 5-7 and 4-6. Dillon and Nikita Horunzhy went to a three-set game after Dillon won the first set 6-2 and Horunzhy took the second 4-6. Ultimately, the Highlander took the final win on court six, 5-7.
As the fourth win for the 'Jacks, Groves clinched the match for Northern Arizona with a 6-2 and 6-4 two set win over Velek.
Steele also played a back and forth three-set match against Whelan-Merediz, taking the first set win of 7-5. Whelan-Merediz took the second, with Steele falling 2-6. However, the Lumberjack did not give up, ending the final third set with an 11-9 tally over the Riverside opponent.
NAU men's tennis opens the spring season up at home with a double header at the Wall Aquatic Center on Thurs., Jan. 30 against Mesa Community College at 9 a.m. and Grand Canyon University at 3 p.m.
