NAU Men’s Tennis Hosts Three Home Matches This Week

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (March 23, 2021) – Northern Arizona men's tennis (1-6, 1-0 Big Sky) will look forward to hosting three separate teams this week. The three matches will be the longest home stretch for NAU, as well as the last games played at the Tennis Center for the spring season. 

The first match will be up against Seattle University on Wednesday, March 24. The Lumberjacks will have back-to-back games on Friday, March 26 and Saturday, March 27, against Idaho State and Weber State, respectively. All three contests will begin at 10 a.m. MST.

The Lumberjacks clinched their first win of the season and Big Sky Conference play, 4-3, against Sacramento State this past Wednesday, March 17. 

Northern Arizona fought back from a 3-1 deficit after the Hornets secured the doubles point and won two singles courts. 

Eban Straker-Meads earned the next singles point for the 'Jacks, besting SAC's Hermont Legaspi with a 6-4 win and 6-0 shutout in the second set.  Shortly thereafter, Maciej Ziomber would earn his third straight singles win 6-3 in both sets against Rudolfs Aksenoks and tie the score 3-3. 

To clinch the match and earn NAU's first win, Chris Steele found his second singles win of the season. Falling in the first set 6-4, Steele came from behind to win the next two, 6-2 and 6-4. 

Wednesday, March 24 | Seattle University (2-9) | 10 a.m. MST
Beginning the home stretch, NAU will host Seattle University tomorrow, Wednesday March 24 at 10 a.m. The Lumberjacks own a 2-0 all-time record over the Redhawks with their most recent win of 7-0 on Feb. 27, 2017. 

Seattle U is currently 2-9 on the season, earning wins over non-DI George Fox (5-2) and Lewis-Clark State-Idaho (5-2). The Redhawks have faced three Big Sky opponents in its slate, adding four losses to their record to Idaho (5-2; 7-0), Montana (4-3) and Portland State (6-1).

Friday, March 26 | Idaho State University (3-8, 0-0 Big Sky) | 10 a.m. MST
In their second Big Sky match of the spring, NAU will hope to add onto its 1-0 record in the conference. 

The Lumberjacks last met with Idaho State in the 2019 Big Sky Conference Championship on April 26, 2019. Winning 4-0 against the Bengals in the semifinals, Northern Arizona moved into finals for the first time since 2015. 

With the win at the postseason level, Northern Arizona has held onto a six game winning streak, beginning with a 6-1 on March 26, 2015. The 'Jacks will hope to extend their run to seven as they take on the Bengals this Friday, exactly five years after the streak began. 

The Bengals, like Seattle U, have also earned one win over George Fox (6-1), adding onto their 3-8 overall record. The other wins for ISU came from Big Sky opponents, Montana State and Eastern Washington, both matches with a final tally of 5-2. 

Saturday, March 27 | Weber State University (4-6, 1-0 Big Sky) | 10 a.m. MST
The match against the Weber State Wildcats will be the third and final Big Sky match the Lumberjacks will participate in this spring. 

Weber State continues to be a tough conference opponent for the 'Jacks. Since 2010, the Wildcats lead the 11 year record 6-4. However, NAU most recently secured a victory of 6-1 over WSU on April 6, 2019. 

WSU, like NAU, only has one conference win over Montana, 5-2, beginning their conference winning record Jan. 29. The Wildcats saw their next second win against New Mexico State (5-2) the following day. Weber would add on two more victories against Azusa Pacific-California (5-2) and UC Riverside (5-2).