FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (April 21, 2021) – Down to their final regular season match, and their final match in the Aquatic and Tennis Complex this season, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (11-4) will face off with a fellow regular season conference champion on Friday.
A perfect 6-0 in the Western Athletic Conference this season, the Grand Canyon Lopes (10-7) enter the week riding a nine-match win streak dating back to mid-March. The streak includes five 7-0 victories, including their past four against WAC opponents.
"It's great not to have a break right before conference and be able to get one more practice match, so to speak, in before the actual tournament. We looking for a very good competition and I think that's exactly what is going to make us ready for the following week," said NAU head coach
Ewa Bogusz.
The final challenge ahead of the Big Sky Conference tournament, scheduled for May 1 and 2 at the Phoenix Tennis Center, will pit multiple win streaks against one another. While the top half of NAU's singles lineup enters with a pair of 11-match win streaks in addition to another 7-match run.
Freshman
Gina Dittmann holds a 13-1 record in singles this season, including a 12-1 record at No. 1 that places her in a tie for ninth on NAU's all-time No. 1 singles victory list. The freshman has not dropped a set since February and has also improved to 9-5 in doubles alongside
Elinor Beazley thanks to three straight victories in the past two weeks.
Matching Dittmann's 11-match streak, sophomore
Mimi Bland enters 12-1 at No. 3 this season to move into a tie for 11th on the Lumberjacks' all-time No. 3 singles wins list. Bland's only two losses came to Pac-12 opponents in February and has won 10 straight sets since mid-March.
Ellie Millard, Bland's partner at No. 1 doubles, has won seven straight singles matches and is now undefeated dating back to the start of March.
The trio will take on Grand Canyon's top singles players who hold similar season records thanks to the team's recent run. Sophomore Narasha Puehse is 13-4 at No. 1 this season with 10 straight wins, followed by graduate student Emilia Occhipinti and her 12-5 record at No. 2 aided by a 10-match win streak and junior Jana Weiss who is 13-4 at No. 3 with nine straight victories.
Grand Canyon senior Joely Lomas serves as the Lopes' primary No. 4 and will potentially face freshman
Ava Neyestani who holds a perfect 7-0 record in Flagstaff this season.
NAU and Grand Canyon last faced off at a similar time of the year, as the two wrapped up the 2018 season in late April with a meeting in Phoenix. With the Lumberjacks winning 6-1, Moore and Millard each earned singles victories at No. 5 and No. 4 respectively.
Occhipinti is the lone Lope to face NAU in singles during her career, winning at No. 5 during the 2017 season and falling at No. 2 in 2018. Autum Prudhomme also played against NAU in 2018, falling at No. 3 against Moore and
Chiara Tomasetti.
The teams shared four opponents this year, with NAU going 5-0 against the group and Grand Canyon 4-1. NAU opened the year with a pair of victories against WAC member Dixie State while Grand Canyon beat Idaho State in a pair of matches just ahead of the Bengals' trip to Flagstaff in March.
NAU also beat WAC member New Mexico State 5-2, with Grand Canyon holding a 7-0 victory against the Aggies. Grand Canyon's lone loss in the shared group came at home to New Mexico 4-3 on March 8, while NAU beat the Lobos 4-0 in Flagstaff a day earlier.
Both teams already know when they will be playing in their respective conference tournaments next week. After Friday's match with the Lumberjacks, the Lopes will head to Las Cruces, New Mexico for their WAC semifinal match at 9 a.m. on May 1 against either Chicago State or Seattle.
For the Lumberjacks, they will face the Portland State Vikings (8-10) at 8 a.m. on May 1 in Phoenix. The Vikings finished with a 3-1 Big Sky record, landing as the runner up in the Big Sky's North Division. Three of the Vikings victories came against non-Division I opponents while they also defeated Seattle 6-1 and Portland 5-2 during non-conference play.
Due to the Big Sky's division schedules, the Lumberjacks and Vikings did not share a common opponent during the regular season.
Fans will be allowed to attend NAU's match with Portland State at the Phoenix Tennis Center, as well as the championship match on Sunday, May 2, with masks required to be worn by all fans when at the facility.
Make sure to follow the NAU women's tennis team on
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