NAU Women’s Tennis Moves to 2-0 in Big Sky with 5-2 Victory Against Idaho State

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (March 26, 2021) –While their current home win streak dates back to 2019, now a stretch of 16 consecutive matches, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks' dominance against Big Sky Conference opponents spans a little further back.
 
Following Friday's 5-2 victory against the Idaho State Bengals (7-7, 0-1 Big Sky), NAU's run moves to 26 straight home conference wins, which equates to an unblemished record since the Aquatic and Tennis Center opened.
 
The win over the Bengals, moving the Lumberjacks' record to 8-4 this season and 2-0 in the conference, didn't come easy after dropping the doubles point in a tiebreaker on Court 3. While a quick victory at No. 1 tied up the team score, much of NAU's lineup battled for their victories on four other courts.
 
After Gina Dittmann improved to 11-1 this season with her ninth straight victory at No. 1, beating Idaho State's Hristina Cvetkovic 6-0, 6-0, Mimi Bland extended her winning streak as well with another successful day at No. 3. With a 6-3 first set already in hand, Bland rolled through the second for a 6-0 win to close out the point.
 
Now leading 2-1, NAU's attention turned to No. 2 and No. 4 as Ellie Millard and Ava Neyestani looked to close out their matches following their wins in their respective opening sets.
 
Neyestani, who entered the day with a perfect 5-0 record at home during her freshman season, helped a slim 3-2 advantage in the second after coming away with a 6-3 in the first set. Meanwhile, Millard quickly turned a 2-1 advantage into 5-2 lead in the second set after battling with Alexandra Arkhipov to a 7-5 victory in the first.
 
After Arkhipov cut down Millard's lead to 5-4, Neyestani moved forward for the Lumberjacks' third win of the day. Taking three of the final four sets against Sol O'Lideadha, the freshman maintained her perfect home record and put Millard in position to clinch.
 
Back on serve, Millard halted Arkhipov's comeback attempt with a victory to close out her day 7-5, 6-4.
 
"Ellie played a really tricky opponent," said NAU head coach Ewa Bogusz. "She had a lot of variety. With Ellie's style, she was able to adjust and still clinch the match for us. That was very impressive; I know it's not easy to play this high in the lineup."
 
As Neyestani and Millard were closing out their matches for the team victory, Elinor Beazley and Madi Moore were rallying back from first set losses to force a pair of third sets. 
 
Trailing 2-1 in the second, Moore broke serve against Angela Walker to move ahead 3-2 at No. 6. Though the two remained close throughout the second set, Moore never trailed and pulled out a 6-4 win to move on to a deciding third-set tiebreak.
 
All the way over at No. 5, past four idle courts, Beazley fended off Lola O'Lideadha after trailing 5-4 in the second set. 
 
"Madi is screaming to Elinor, Elinor is screaming to Madi, it's awesome teamwork to see and that's what we stress a lot," Bogusz said of the final stretch of the day. "We are in it together, we play together, we are going to support each other no matter what the score is and they did exactly that."
 
Beazley pulled out three straight games to move into a tiebreaker of her own, the sixth straight match for the sophomore that went to either a tiebreaker or a third set. Closing out the win 10-7, Beazley earned her fifth win in her last six decisions.
 
"When the team has already won the match, she still put the pressure on herself to just fight for every point," Bogusz said. "To get better for herself and the team is just impressive."
 
Moore and Walker wrapped up the day at No. 6, with NAU's senior tying the score at 7-7 and 8-8 before Idaho State's senior came up with two straight points for the win.
 
Millard and Bland opened the day with a dominant victory at the No. 1 doubles spot, winning 6-2 to earn the day's first victory. A tight match at No. 2 included Dittmann and Beazley trailing 2-1 and leading 5-4 before falling 7-5 to even the score.
 
Moore and Neyestani led the O'Lideadha twins 5-2, but the Bengals pair rallied for four straight games to avoid falling at No. 3. NAU's duo broke serve back to force a deciding tiebreaker and won the first point before a four-point run helped seal the 7-3 victory for Idaho State.
 
Following a week off, NAU will leave the state for the final time in the regular season, heading east to El Paso, Texas for a pair of matches against the New Mexico State Aggies on Friday, April 9 and against the hosting UTEP Miners on Saturday, April 10.

Make sure to follow the NAU women's tennis team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for updates throughout the season.

Match Results:
Doubles:

1. Ellie Millard/Mimi Bland (NAU) def. Hristina Cvetkovic/Alexandra Arkhipov (ISU), 6-2
2. Hana Cho/Angela Walker (ISU) def. Elinor Beazley/Gina Dittmann (NAU), 7-5
3. Lola O'Lideadha/Sol O'Lideadha (ISU) def. Madi Moore/Ava Neyestani (NAU), 7-6 (7-3)*

*Clinched Doubles Point | Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
 
Singles:

1. Gina Dittmann (NAU) def. Hristina Cvetkovic (ISU), 6-0, 6-0
2. Ellie Millard (NAU) def. Alexandra Arkhipov (ISU), 7-5, 6-4**
3. Mimi Bland (NAU) def. Hana Cho (ISU), 6-3, 6-0
4. Ava Neyestani (NAU) def. Sol O'Lideadha (ISU), 6-3, 6-3
5. Elinor Beazley (NAU) def. Lola O'Lideadha (ISU), 4-6, 7-5, 10-7
6. Angela Walker (ISU) def. Madi Moore (NAU), 6-2, 4-6, 10-8

**Clinched Match | Order of Finish: 1, 3, 4, 2, 5, 6