STOCKTON, Calif. (March 19, 2021) – Battling back against the Pacific Tigers after dropping the doubles point to start the day, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks just missed extending their four-match win streak.
Falling 4-3 to Pacific after splitting singles play, NAU (6-4) now heads to Sacramento State (1-11) to face the Hornets, who beat William Jessup at home on Friday afternoon. Saturday's match will open Big Sky Conference play for the Lumberjacks, the first of three conference matches this spring.
Prior to a rain delay stalling a pair of third sets, the Lumberjacks trailed the Tigers 3-2 with four singles courts complete.
"Tough match to lose today, it came down to the last match for both singles and doubles," said NAU assistant coach
Christa Gecheva. "We started 0-3 down and had to dig our way out of the hole. This showed great fighting spirit and resilience on our end. We didn't go away at any point and forced them into a third-set tiebreak in order to steal the win from us. The longer and tougher the match got, the more we stepped up our game. Going forward, we need to start as we mean to finish in order to run away with the lead and make it easier on ourselves."
With wins at No. 4 and No. 6, the Tigers (3-5) entered the delay with the advantage, needing just one of the final two matches for the team victory. Down 3-0 and needing to sweep the final four matches of the day, NAU earned wins at No. 1 and No. 3 to start its comeback.
Freshman
Gina Dittmann extended her win streak to seven straight matches, as she beat No. 70 Klara Kosan 7-5, 6-2 on Court 1 for her first career victory against a nationally-ranked opponent. Sophomore
Mimi Bland also extended her personal winning streak to six straight matches, as she closed out her fourth three-set victory of the season against Zoe Eberle 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3.
The two wins for the Lumberjacks left the Tigers in a similar position to a few other home matches this season. Falling 4-3 in Stockton, Calif. on three occasions this season, Pacific landed itself in yet another extended match on its home courts.
Trailing 2-1 in the third set after splitting the opening sets with a 7-5 victory and a 6-2 loss, senior
Ellie Millard earned NAU's third point in the match after winning five of her final seven games in the deciding third set.
At No. 4,
Elinor Beazley battled back-and-forth with Danielle Zamora. Taking a 6-4 victory in the opening set, Beazley was forced into a deciding third after a 6-2 loss in the second. Reaching 6-6, it came down to a tiebreak to decide the final match of the day, with NAU's sophomore edged out 7-4 to wrap up the day.
The quick turnaround to Sacramento will be NAU's second back-to-back match days this season, the first while traveling in the process. The Lumberjacks previously swept a doubleheader against Dixie State to open the season and fell to Arizona in a pair of matches on back-to-back days in early February.
Sacramento State swept William Jessup for its first win of the season after failing to score at least three team points in a match this season. Pacific handed Sacramento State a 6-1 loss two weeks ago in Stockton, with the Hornets' lone victory coming at No. 1 by Jayden Nielsen.
NAU and Sacramento State are scheduled to begin at 12 p.m., with the forecast calling for just a small chance of rain in the afternoon.
