FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (March 24, 2021) – Northern Arizona men's tennis begins its three-game home slate this week with a win over Seattle University, 6-1. The Lumberjacks have now won two matches in a row, developing a season record of 2-6.
The first doubles court victory came just 20 minutes into the match. With a 6-1 win from doubles pairing on No. 2, Chris Steele and Dominik Buzonics, the Lumberjacks had an advantage over the Redhawks, just needing one more court to win and clinch the crucial doubles point.
After the win from Buzonics and Steele, the Lumberjacks secured the lead over Seattle on No. 1. Alex Groves and Facundo Tumosa fought in a back and forth match for the point against Seattle's Lucas Cerbelli and Eli Oglivy.
The junior and sophomore would ultimately be faced with a 5-5 tie after leading 5-4, needing to add on two more game wins to secure the lead.
Tumosa and Groves won the first game and gain a 6-5 advantage. However, Cerbelli and Ogilvy would respond with a point of their own to once again equal the score 6-6, sending the No. 1 players into a tiebreaker.
Ultimately, the Redhawks would win the tie, 7-6.
On court three, Maciej Ziomber and Daniel Dillon faced two tough opponents. The Redhawks, Emilio Monroy and Billy Givens-Jensen would not allow Northern Arizona to pull ahead at any moment during the doubles contest.
Down 4-5, Ziomber and Dillon beat Seattle in two games for the 'Jacks to finally pull ahead of the Redhawks, 6-5. Needing just one more point, the two won their final game, earning the doubles point advantage for the Lumberjacks.
Just 11 minutes into singles, Tumosa, Ziomber, and Steele all went on 3-0 runs to begin their matches. The three ended up winning their first set 6-2 each.
Shortly after the three finished their first sets, Groves would follow with a 6-3 first set win over Krause. Buzonics followed through with a 7-5 win on No. 4.
With all six Lumberjacks moving onto their second set of singles under 40 minutes into the round, Northern Arizona kept a lot of offensive pressure up on the Redhawks, with five taking a first set advantage over their opponents.
Finishing almost simultaneously, Ziomber and Tumosa secured their singles wins over the Redhawks. Ziomber finished his second set with a 6-3 win while Tumosa finished 6-2 again.
Buzonics clinched the match for the Lumberjacks to win 4-0 over Seattle. On No. 4, the freshman finished his second set 6-3 over Monroy.
Sending his match into a tie, Steele came out victorious in his 7-6 second set, winning the tiebreaker and bringing the 'Jacks up 5-0.
Earning NAU's final point would be Groves, earning a second set victory of 6-4 against Krause.
The 'Jacks will be back in action on Friday, March 26 for another home match. Northern Arizona will host Big Sky foe Idaho State (4-8) in Flagstaff with the match beginning at 10 a.m.
DOUBLES
- CERBELLI, Lucas/OGLIVY, Eli (SEAU) def. GROVES, Alex/TUMOSA, Facundo (NAU), 7-6
- BUZONICS, Dominik/STEELE, Chris (NAU) def. KRAUS, Mats/WORN, Julian (SEAU), 6-1
- ZIOMBER, Maciej/DILLON, Daniel (NAU) def. MONROY, Emilio/GIVENS-JENSEN, Billy (SEAU), 7-5
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
SINGLES
- TUMOSA, Facundo (NAU) def. OGILVY, Eli (SEAU), 6-2, 6-2
- STRAKER-MEADS, Eban (NAU) CERBELLI, Lucas (SEAU)
- STEELE, Chris (NAU) def. WORN, Julian (SEAU), 6-2, 7-6
- *BUZONICS, Dominik def. (NAU) MONROY, Emilio (SEAU), 7-5, 6-2
- GROVES, Alex (NAU) def. KRAUSE, Mats (SEAU) 6-3, 6-4
- ZIOMBER, Maciej (NAU) def. SCHMASSMANN, Lars (SEAU), 6-2, 6-3
Order of finish: 6, 1, 4*, 3, 2, 5
*Clinched the match
