LAS CRUCES, N.M. (April 9, 2021) – A trio of Lumberjacks extended their singles win streaks Friday afternoon as Northern Arizona opened its weekend road trip with a 5-2 victory against the New Mexico State Aggies.
Mimi Bland,
Gina Dittmann and
Ellie Millard earned victories to sweep the top half of the singles lineup, with a fourth singles win coming in a walkover for
Madi Moore at No. 6 and a victory in doubles.
NAU (9-4) immediately took the lead in doubles as Moore and
Ava Neyestani won at No. 3 in a walkover. Splitting the remaining two matches, the Lumberjacks earned the point as Dittmann and
Elinor Beazley closed out a tight match against Chloe Gavino and Bella Nguyen at No. 2.
Holding on for a 7-6 victory in a tiebreaker, Dittmann and Beazley improved their season record to 7-5 while putting the Lumberjacks ahead early on.
Down 2-0 with the walkover at No. 6 in singles, the Aggies (4-11) battled to keep three of the five remaining singles matches close. While Bland pushed the Lumberjacks ahead 3-0 with a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 3, extending her win streak to nine straight matches, the Aggies got on the board with Gavi Kalaga's 7-6, 6-1 win on Court 4.
After Millard won her first set 6-4, Gavino forced the NAU senior into a third set at No. 2. Beazley battled back for a 6-3 second set win against Nguyen at No. 5 after dropping the first, sending her match into a third set as well.
However, Dittmann recorded her 10th straight win of the season at No. 1 as she beat Harsha Challa 6-2, 7-5 at the top spot in the lineup to clinch the team victory. Millard added NAU's fifth point with a 6-3 victory in her third set at No. 2, pushing her streak to five straight before Nguyen wrapped up the day with a tiebreaker victory against Beazley on Court 5.
The Lumberjacks now head about an hour south to El Paso, Texas to take on the UTEP Miners (2-5) on Friday at 11 a.m. It'll be the final road match of the regular season for NAU, who will return home next week to wrap up its Big Sky Conference schedule with Weber State.
Match Results:
Doubles:
- Harsha Challa/Gavi Kalaga (NMSU) def. Ellie Millard/Mimi Bland (NAU) 6-4
- Elinor Beazley/Gina Dittmann (NAU) def. Chloe Gavino/Bella Nguyen (NMSU) 7-6*
- Madi Moore/Ava Neyestani (NAU) def. No player/No player (NMSU) by walkover
*Clinched Doubles Point | Order of Finish: (3, 1, 2)
Singles:
- Gina Dittmann (NAU) def. Harsha Challa (NMSU) 6-2, 7-5**
- Ellie Millard (NAU) def. Chloe Gavino (NMSU) 6-4, 0-6, 6-3
- Mimi Bland (NAU) def. Miranda Bishard (NMSU) 6-0, 6-1
- Gavi Kalaga (NMSU) def. Ava Neyestani (NAU) 7-6, 6-1
- Bella Nguyen (NMSU) def. Elinor Beazley (NAU) 6-2, 3-6, 7-6
- Madi Moore (NAU) def. No player (NMSU) by walkover
**Clinched Match | Order of Finish: 6, 3, 4, 1, 2, 5
