FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 20, 2020) – Coming off their first win of the spring, the Northern Arizona women's tennis team has their third Pac-12 opponent of the season and their first conference match ahead this weekend on their road trip to Oregon on Saturday at 12 p.m. MST and Portland State on Sunday at 11 a.m. MST.
The Lumberjacks split their road trip to BYU and Utah State last weekend and came away with their first win of the season against Utah State, 5-2. NAU took the doubles point and then won four of the six singles matches to snap a three-match losing streak and carry a 1-3 record into this weekend.
NAU has won the doubles point in three consecutive matches with senior
Chiara Tomasetti and junior
Ellie Millard leading the way with a 3-0 record at the No. 2 position this spring. Tomasetti and Millard are one of two doubles teams in the conference with at least three wins without suffering a loss this season.
Each of their last three doubles wins have been in dominant fashion with identical scores of 6-1. Counting the fall season, Tomasetti and Millard are 7-2 as a tandem this season.
Tomasetti, the reigning Big Sky Player of the Week for the second time this spring, leads the Lumberjacks in singles with an unblemished 4-0 record. The No. 44 ranked player in the country has not dropped a set in dual matches thus far competing at the top spot in the Lumberjacks' lineup.
Tomasetti is tied for second in program history with 61 dual singles wins and with two victories this weekend, she would become NAU's all-time leader surpassing Susanna Wallin's 62 dual victories.
Sophomore
Emilie Haakansson is second on the team behind Tomasetti with a 3-1 singles record this spring playing at No. 4. Fellow sophomore
Adrianna Sosnowska is 2-2 at No. 2, picking up both of her victories last weekend.
NAU will be looking for its first win against Oregon as the Lumberjacks are 0-4 all-time versus the Ducks. The two teams last faced off in 2014 with Oregon claiming a 4-1 win on a neutral court at Arizona State.
Oregon will be NAU's third Pac-12 opponent this spring following Arizona State and Arizona.
The Ducks are 5-3 this season and a perfect 4-0 at home. They dropped both of their matches last week to Long Beach State, 5-2, and CSUN, 4-3, but they do own a pair of victories over Big Sky schools in Portland State and Idaho this season.
At the bottom of Oregon's lineup, Julia Eshet and Myah Petchey – the Ducks' primary No. 4 and 5 players – are a team-best 7-1 in dual matches. Uxia Martinez Moral and Petchey are a perfect 4-0 at No. 3 doubles to lead the team.
Portland State, picked 10th in the preseason conference poll, will mark NAU's Big Sky opener while the Vikings are already 1-0 in league play. The Lumberjacks have defeated the Vikings in five consecutive years, including a 7-0 win at home last season, and are 18-1 all-time versus Portland State.
Portland State is 2-3 overall with both of its wins coming on its home courts. Earlier this week, the Vikings blanked Southern Utah, 7-0, in its conference opener. Portland State will host Whitman College on Saturday prior to facing NAU on Sunday.
Alli Valk is a team-leading 3-2 in singles play this spring with all three of her victories coming at No. 5. Five other players each have two singles wins. The doubles pairing of Jacinta Milenkoski and Eszter Zador is a team-best 3-1 split between the No. 2 and 3 spots.
