LAS VEGAS, Nev. (October 15, 2021) – A dominant first set for sophomore
Gina Dittmann set the stage for the sophomore's quarterfinal victory on Friday at the ITA Mountain Regionals in Las Vegas.
Dittmann handed Denver's Taylor Melville, the tournament's No. 6 seed, a 6-1, 7-5 defeat as the tournament's top seed marched on to her fourth win in three days. Dittmann will face off with UNLV's Molly Helgesson, the No. 4 seed in the tournament, in the semifinals on Saturday. Now in her junior year, Helgesson transferred to the Rebels from Division II Saint Leo University.
Last season, Helgesson was named an ITA All-American and finished the season at No. 8 in the Division II Top 50 singles rankings. Defeating Wyoming's Maria Oreshkina 6-1, 6-3 in the Round of 16, Helgesson has yet to drop a set through the first four rounds of singles play at the Mountain Regionals.
On the other side of the bracket, the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds also remain as Flight One of the tournament wound up going chalk into the semifinals. Either Denver's Anna Riedmiller, seeded No. 2, or Utah's Linda Huang, at No. 3, await in Sunday's championship match.
In the main draw of doubles play, the No. 7-seeded pairing of
Mimi Bland and
Ellie Millard fell in the Round of 16 to Colorado State's Radka Buzkova and Matea Mihaljevic 8-6.
In five added singles matches played on Friday, the Lumberjacks came away with four victories in straight sets.
Playing in Flight One,
Laura Duhl defeated BYU's Leah Heimuli 6-4, 6-4 while
Sofia Markova beat New Mexico State's Harsha Challa 6-4, 7-6.
Ava Neyestani just missed a sweep in singles play on the day for Northern Arizona during her match against Utah's Emily Dush. After winning the opening set 6-4, Neyestani fell 6-3 in the second and was edged out 10-8 in a third-set tiebreaker.
Elinor Beazley and
Annabel Davis won their Flight Two matches in straight sets as well, with the former beating Isabelle Flodin from Air Force 6-1, 6-0 and the latter beating Idaho's Saffron Dowse 7-5, 6-0.
Duhl and Beazley also earned a 6-4 victory against Utah's Emily Dush and Lindsay Hung during the tournament's additional doubles play. Neyestani and Markova fell in their match with Boise State's Holly Stewart and Nicole Discenza winning 6-2.
Semifinals for both singles flights and doubles will be held on Saturday in addition to more added matches. Finals for singles and doubles are scheduled for Sunday as the tournament wraps up this weekend.
Updates throughout the fall and spring seasons can also be found on all of the NAU women's tennis team social media accounts,
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