VANCOUVER, Wash. (February 23, 2020) – Senior
Chiara Tomasetti broke the program's all-time wins record in dual matches and the Northern Arizona women's tennis team earned their a 6-1 victory over Portland State in their Big Sky opener on Sunday. The Lumberjacks finished their stretch of six consecutive road matches to start the season at 2-3 and 1-0 in conference play.
"Portland State played really tough today and it was a good win for us," said head coach
Ewa Bogusz. "We were able to stay strong in doubles, and then carried the momentum into singles. It's never easy to play on the road so I'm glad we got a good start to the conference season."
Tomasetti became NAU's all-time leader in dual singles wins, breaking Susanna Wallin's previous mark of 62 victories, with a 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 1 against Lotti Meszaros. Tomasetti, the 44th ranked player in the country, remained undefeated this spring at 6-0 and still has not dropped a set.
Tomasetti's victory gave the Lumberjacks a 2-0 lead in the match after NAU clinched the doubles point. Sophomore
Emilie Haakansson and freshman
Elinor Beazley opened doubles play with a 6-1 win against Alli Valk and Emily Rees at No. 3. After Portland State evened doubles play at No. 2, NAU's top tandem of sophomore
Adrianna Sosnowska and freshman
Mimi Bland clinched the doubles point with a 7-6(3) win over Meszaros and Nina Nikitovic.
Following Tomasetti's 63rd career victory, Sosnowska followed with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 2 singles over Jacinta Milenkoski. Senior
Ellie Millard then clinched the victory at No. 3, besting Nikitovic, 6-1, 7-5.
With NAU's first Big Sky victory already clinched at 4-0, Haakansson proceeded to rally from a first set loss to defeat Eszter Zador, 3-6, 6-2, 1-0(7), in three sets at No. 4.
The Vikings picked up their only point of the match at No. 6 singles before Beazley concluded the afternoon with a hard-fought three-set victory at No. 5. Beazley and Valk went the distance with the Lumberjack freshman emerging with a7-5, 6-7(5), 1-0(7) victory.
The 'Jacks will finally open their home schedule Thursday afternoon at the Aquatic and Tennis Complex versus Montana at 2 p.m. NAU, who will play four straight at home, will also host New Mexico at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Results:
Doubles:
