PHOENIX, Ariz. (April 24, 2021) – Returning from a two-week hiatus, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks rolled through doubles Saturday afternoon in Phoenix to take an early lead against the Grand Canyon Lopes.
With a win at No. 4 during singles play, the Lumberjacks (6-8) landed in a pair of third sets at No. 3 and No. 5 with the Lopes (6-12). While the latter went into a tiebreaker, the match on Court 3 clinched the victory for Grand Canyon as NAU wrapped up its regular season.
Alex Groves and
Dominik Buzonics improved to 3-2 this season at Court 1 in doubles, beating Grand Canyon's Valentin Lang and Jiri Novak 6-4 to open the day.
Chris Steele and
Maciej Ziomber clinched the point at No. 3 with a 6-4 victory as
Eban Straker-Meads and
Facundo Tumosa led 5-3 on Court 2.
We continue getting better in doubles and that was our main focus in practice," said NAU head coach
Maciej Bogusz. "It's great to see the progress the team is making in that aspect of the game. Definitely played the best doubles of the season today."
Down 1-0 headed into doubles, Grand Canyon pulled ahead with straight-set victories at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 6. Ziomber put the Lumberjacks back within one point thanks to a 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory at No. 4, his 10th singles victory of his freshman season and his fourth on Court 4.
After dropping his first set 6-3, Buzonics forced a third set with his own 6-3 win in the second while Groves also rallied back from a first-set loss to move into a deciding set. Though Grand Canyon clinched its team victory at No. 3, Groves battled into a tiebreaker with his third set tied at 6-6 before Novak clinched the win 7-4.
The Lumberjacks now move on to the Big Sky Conference Tournament set for May 1 and 2 at the Phoenix Tennis Center. NAU, the No. 1 seed in the South Division, will face Idaho, Montana or Portland State in the semifinals set for 8 a.m. on Saturday.
Match Results:
Doubles:
- Alex Groves/Dominik Buzonics (NAU) def. Valentin Lang/Jiri Novak (GCU) 6-4
- Eban Straker-Meads/Facundo Tumosa (NAU) vs. Justin Cvitanovic/Mariano Argote (GCU) 5-3 unfinished
- Chris Steele/Maciej Ziomber (NAU) def. Freddie Grant/Loic Van Zeggelaar (GCU) 6-4*
*Clinched Doubles Point | Order of Finish: (1, 3)
Singles:
- Valentin Lang (GCU) def. Eban Straker-Meads (NAU) 6-0, 6-2
- Mariano Argote (GCU) def. Chris Steele (NAU) 6-3, 6-1
- Justin Cvitanovic (GCU) def. Dominik Buzonics (NAU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0**
- Maciej Ziomber (NAU) def. Jonathan Da Silva (GCU) 1-6, 6-2, 6-4
- Jiri Novak (GCU) def. Alex Groves (NAU) 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4)
- Freddie Grant (GCU) def. Joachim Schaefer (NAU) 6-4, 6-3
**Clinched Match | Order of Finish: (2, 1, 6, 4, 3, 5)
