VANCOUVER, Wash. (February 22, 2020) – Northern Arizona's men's tennis took its first Big Sky Conference loss against Portland State, 3-4.
Despite the loss, the Lumberjacks fought hard on each court, with five different sets going into tiebreakers. The first tiebreaker was in
Facundo Tumosa and
Eban Straker-Meads doubles match against PSU's Tommy Edwards and Sam Roberts. The 'Jacks took the win of 7-6 (8-6). Unfortunately, the Vikings took the other two courts, winning against
Alex Groves and
Joachim Schaefer, 4-6, and
Chris Steele and
Daniel Dillon, 6-7 (6-8).
In singles, Tumosa,
David Nguyen and Schaefer found victories on their courts. In his first set, Tumosa took a 5-7 loss, but flipped the score around in the second to head into the third set. To win, Tumosa finished 6-4, earning his third singles win this season.
Nguyen's singles match took just two sets, where he finished 6-4 and 7-5, respectively. Schaefer went to three, with a loss in the first of 3-6, to come back and switch the score 6-3, and win 1-0 (10-8) in the final tiebreaker.
Although Straker-Meads, Groves and Tripp might not have earned a win for the Lumberjacks, the players fought hard. Straker-Meads finished his match 7-6 (5-7) and 5-7. Groves took on his opponent in three sets, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, and 1-6. Tripp won his first game, going 6-1, but ultimately fell 4-6 and 0-6.
The 'Jacks will pause Big Sky play to compete at Utah State and the University of Utah this upcoming Friday and Saturday.
Singles competition
1. FORTINI, Matteo (PSU) def. STRAKER-MEADS, Eban (NAU) 7-6 (5-7), 5-7
2. TUMOSA, Facundo (NAU) def. EDWARDS, Tommy (PSU) 5-7, 7-5, 6-3
3. DIMITRIJEVIC, Nikola (PSU) def. GROVES, Alex (NAU) 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 1-6
4. ROBERTS, Sam (PSU) def. DILLON, Daniel (NAU) 6-1, 4-6, 0-6
5. NGUYEN, David (NAU) def. BUKHARI, Majeed (PSU) 6-4, 7-5
6. SCHAEFER, Joachim (NAU) def. BUKARY, Sahal (PSU) 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8)
Doubles competition
1. STRAKER-MEADS, Eban/TUMOSA, Facundo (NAU) def. ROBERTS, Sam/EDWARDS, Tommy (PSU) 7-6 (8-6)
2. BUKHARI, Majeed/FORTINI, Matteo (PSU) def. GROVES, Alex/SCHAEFER, Joachim (NAU) 4-6
3. DIMITRIJEVIC, Nikola/BUKARY, Sahal (PSU) def. STEELE, Chris/DILLON, Daniel (NAU) 6-7 (6-8)
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,2,1,3,5,6)
