EUGENE, Ore. (February 22, 2020) – The Northern Arizona women's tennis team led Oregon, 3-2, but could not come up with the final singles win to clinch the match in an eventual 4-3 loss to the Ducks on Saturday. For the second time this season, NAU fell to a Pac-12 opponent by a 4-3 score as the Lumberjacks' record dropped to 1-3.
"We battled hard today," said head coach
Ewa Bogusz. "It didn't our way at the end, but we took a lot of positives from this match. It's good to see everyone getting after it, no matter who we face, and that's how we give ourselves chances in these matches. I like where we are at as a team heading into conference matches."
NAU needed to play from behind after dropping the doubles point, snapping a three-match streak in which the Lumberjacks clinched the early advantage heading into singles. Doubles was close though before Oregon won on courts two and three.
The Ducks claimed the first of two doubles wins at No. 3 by a 6-3 score and clinched the point with a 6-4 loss at No. 2 where Myah Petchey and Uxia Martinez Moral handed senior
Chiara Tomasetti and junior
Ellie Millard their first dual loss of the season. At the time the point was clinched, NAU's No. 1 duo of sophomore
Adrianna Sosnowska and freshman
Mimi Bland were tied at 5-5 and went unfinished.
Trailing 1-0 in the match, Tomasetti and Bland quickly dispatched their opponents to give the 'Jacks a 2-1 advantage. Bland was the first to finish in her return to the singles lineup, defeating Madisen Olsen, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 6. Tomasetti followed with her program record-tying 62nd dual singles win at No. 1 in a 6-1, 6-0 coasting over Rifanty Kahfiani.
Oregon tied the match at 2-2 with a win at No. 5 before Millard recorded her first singles win of the spring with a 6-4, 6-1 victory at No. 3 over Martinez Moral. Millard's victory put the Lumberjacks within a point of their first-ever victory over a Pac-12 opponent with action on courts two and four remaining.
The Ducks evened the match again with a straight set win at No. 4, leaving Sosnowska and Lillian Mould to battle it out at No. 2. Sosnowska won the first set before Mould took the second set in a tiebreak, sending the players into the only three-set match of the day. There, Mould would emerge victorious, stealing the win away from NAU with a 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 come-from-behind win over Sosnowska.
NAU will look to bounce back on Sunday in its conference opener versus Portland State at 11 a.m. MST.
Results:
Doubles:
