FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (March 5, 2021) – Coming off of a pair of matches last week in El Paso, Texas, the New Mexico Lobos arrive in Flagstaff to take on the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks in a battle between a pair of programs plenty familiar with one another.
The Lumberjacks (4-3) and Lobos (4-2) have played in every season dating back to 2011, and 26 times total since their first meeting in 1981. Splitting the past 10 meetings, the series is currently on a run of three straight wins for the home team in each match. Last season, NAU hosted New Mexico on Feb. 29, getting the match in just a few weeks ahead of the season's cancellation. The Lumberjacks won the doubles point before grabbing three singles wins for the 4-2 team victory.
NAU enters Sunday's match coming off a 5-2 victory against Wyoming, with the Lumberjacks rallying back from three first-set losses for a trio of wins in singles. Down 1-0 in the match after doubles, and tied at 2-2 following the first three singles matches, NAU closed out the day with the three third-set victories.
"Lots of positives. We were so happy with how we performed as a team, it was such a team effort," said NAU head coach
Ewa Bogusz. "We got wins from all across the lineup. It just shows how, even if we do lose the doubles points, we can rely on bouncing back and getting a point at every single line. We never went away. With Wyoming being in the lead after doubles and for the first part of singles, we were just so tough and resilient. This is what I want them to remember."
Mimi Bland and
Elinor Beazley won their matches at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles respectively, with the former also earning a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 win at No. 5. Beazley dropped her singles match at No. 6 while NAU's other remaining player from last season's meeting, senior
Ellie Millard, went unfinished at No. 3 while locked in a 2-2 tie in the third set.
Three of New Mexico's singles players, Natasha Munday, Myu Kageyama and Hsiang-Wen Huang, will face NAU once again while Yue Lin Chen played doubles in last year's meeting.
Munday has played four matches at No. 1 this season while Kageyama is 4-1 at No. 4 and No. 5. Huang is 2-4 at No. 5 and No. 6, while Chen is 4-0 at No. 2 this year.
The Lobos have sent out multiple doubles pairings this season, with just one pairing playing at least four matches together. Kageyama and Satoho Toriumi enter the match at 3-1 overall, coming off a pair of wins at No. 3 last week.
Chen clinched a victory against New Mexico State last week, battling through three sets for a win at No. 2. The senior also clinched a 4-3 win a week earlier against Abilene Christian, also coming in a third set at No. 2.
For NAU, four players enter the weekend with multiple matches won in a row at their respective singles spots. Freshman
Gina Dittmann has won four straight at No. 1, while Bland is on a three-match win streak at No. 3.
Ava Neyestani and
Elinor Beazley have also won two straight at No. 4 and No. 5 respectively, as NAU has won its past two matches 5-2 in the Aquatic and Tennis Complex. Currently on a 14-match win streak in Flagstaff dating back to the 2019 season, the Lumberjacks have won all three matches played in Flagstaff since 2011.
With just eight home matches on the schedule this spring, NAU is already halfway through its slate in Flagstaff. The Lumberjacks will play their next three matches on the road, including their Big Sky Conference opener on March 20 against the Sacramento State Hornets.
NAU's returns to play inside the ATC on March 26 for its second of three Big Sky matches, as the Idaho State Bengals arrive in Flagstaff.
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