FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (April 7, 2021) – Following a pair of victories against Big Sky Conference opponents, and a week of rest before the final stretch of the season, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks wrap up their regular season road schedule with a quick trip east.
The New Mexico State Aggies (4-10) will host the Lumberjacks (8-4) for their first match this season in Las Cruces, New Mexico on Friday before NAU heads less than an hour south for a match with the UTEP Miners (2-5) on Saturday.
"We've been able to practice outdoors since our last match. I feel like ladies have made a good transition into outdoor tennis and feel good about the weekend ahead," said NAU head coach
Ewa Bogusz. "I'm glad we get to play these two matches and get some play time before our last conference match. We are looking forward to stepping on a court and competing again after a weekend off."
The Lumberjacks enter the trip with a three-match win streak against both programs, including a sweep of the two during their last trip to the cities in 2018. Seniors
Madi Moore and
Ellie Millard each faced the Aggies and Miners in both 2018 and 2019, with Moore winning all three of her matches that were played to completion.
Millard lined up against UTEP's Erandi Martinez in both meetings, as the two played No. 5 in 2018 and No. 2 in 2019. With a 4-1 record at No. 2 this season, Martinez could possibly end up facing Millard a third time as NAU's senior holds a 5-5 record at the position in 2021.
Both New Mexico State and UTEP dropped their respective matches to Utah State and New Mexico, a pair of schools NAU has defeated, as well as Weber State who heads to Flagstaff next week.
The Aggies split their pair of WAC matches last week in Edinburg, Texas, beating Dixie State 4-3 before falling to Tarleton State 4-3. Similar to NAU, New Mexico State's lineup has remained consistent through its 14 matches this season. Junior Harsha Challa holds a 7-6 record at No. 1, followed by sophomore Chloe Gavino's 6-8 record at No. 2 and junior Miranda Bishard with a 3-9 record at No. 3.
The next best singles record this year belongs to junior Gavi Kalaga at No. 4, who sits at 6-5 this season. Kalaga faced Moore when the Aggies and Lumberjacks played in 2019, with NAU's No. 5 taking the match 7-6, 6-3 to clinch a 4-2 victory in Flagstaff. In doubles, New Mexico State has stuck to three primary pairings, led by Challa and Kalaga's 6-4 record at No. 1
After four matches on the road and eight on neutral courts this year, the Aggies match with the Lumberjacks is the first of four in Las Cruces to wrap up the season.
Following its match against Division II UT Tyler on Friday, UTEP will wrap up its regular season with four more matches in the span of just six days. Martinez's 5-1 record overall and 4-1 mark at No. 2 is the best on the team, while Veronika Lebisova and Lina Sachica entered the week at 3-3 and 2-2 respectively.
While the top two in the Miners' order remain relatively steady this season, four players have split the six or seven completed matches at No. 3 through No. 6.
Lebisova and Thassane Abrahim lead UTEP's doubles success with a 4-1 record and stand as just one of two pairings to play together at least four times this season. Eve Daniels and Vanessa Valdez have rotated between No. 1 and No. 2, but hold a 1-5 record this season.
NAU will close out its regular season with a pair of matches in Flagstaff against Weber State on April 17 and Grand Canyon on April 23 before the Big Sky Conference tournament begins May 1 in Phoenix.
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