PHOENIX, Ariz. (May 2, 2021) – At this point,
Madi Moore clinching a Northern Arizona victory feels inevitable.
On Sunday, it came in one of the biggest matches of her career with a Big Sky Conference championship within her reach. After dropping her first set, Moore rallied to even her match at No. 6 as the Lumberjacks moved a win away from clinching their second straight title against the Weber State Wildcats.
Pushing ahead 4-1 to open the deciding set, Moore clinched her comeback victory on serve to bring another Big Sky trophy to Flagstaff and earn the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Championship.
"We have an inside joke now, she is on a clinch streak," said NAU head coach
Ewa Bogusz, as Moore wrapped up a win on Senior Day against Grand Canyon as well as Saturday's semifinals victory over Portland State. "I say it again for the third time, but what a way for her to finish her conference career now. She has been so resistant to lose and I love to see it. That's the Madi I am going to remember."
Just Moore and
Elinor Beazley remained as Sunday's final neared the three and a half hour mark, with the Lumberjacks leading 3-2 thanks to a trio of singles victories.
Ava Neyestani evened the match at 1-1 with her 6-3, 6-1 win over Weber State's Megan Davies, her second victory against the freshman. Neyestani's quick victory boosted the Lumberjacks a bit, as they trailed following a tight loss in doubles play to start the match.
While
Ellie Millard and
Mimi Bland won 6-2 at No. 1, a loss on Court 2 evened the score with Moore and Neyestani in a battle one court over. Looking to pull ahead by a game, the Lumberjacks lost on serve and then just missed a break of their own against Megan Lombardi and Pei-Hsuan Kuo.
The 7-5 loss at No. 3 forced the Lumberjacks to play from behind, and a trio of first-set losses meant the title would likely need to be won in a third set. Along with Neyestani,
Gina Dittmann and Millard locked up victories in straight sets.
"I didn't really know exactly what was going on at Courts 1 through 3. Once we went down on a couple courts in the first sets, I was like 'ok hopefully the other side is doing well'," Bogusz said. "Once El and Madi got a small advantage in the second set, I knew we were going to have it. I know what they bring to the table, I knew they were going to leave everything on the court."
Dittmann, riding a 12-match win streak into Sunday's championship, beat Yunna Ukita 6-2, 7-5 to extend her run to 13 matches. The match at No. 1 was much tighter than two weeks prior in Flagstaff, when Ukita fell 6-2, 6-1 against Dittmann.
Millard handed Lombardi a 6-4, 6-3 loss at No. 3, having shifted in the lineup from her 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 2 over Ana Morett Salas in Flagstaff.
While the Lumberjacks won 6-1 when they hosted the Wildcats, Bogusz said she knew Sunday's match would be a completely different challenge.
"It's different conditions, we are playing outdoors and we are playing at sea level. We had a couple different matchups at No. 2 and No. 3," Bogusz said. "On top of that, it's a conference match. It's so different from a regular season match. We knew we had to go above and beyond to get the win today."
Moore did just that, bouncing back from a 6-4 loss in her opening set with a 6-4 victory of her own in the second against Sicely Ferreira. Beazley too rallied back from a 6-4 first set loss, with a 6-2 win over Kuo as the Lumberjacks found themselves within reach of the title if either could close out their match.
Beazley pulled out to a 4-1 lead while Moore was ahead 2-1 as both teams gathered at the final two courts. As Kuo battled back to even Beazley at 4-4, Moore pushed her advantage up to 4-1 and eventually 5-2 as she took the service line.
Adding just a little more drama to the match's final moments, Moore took a 40-0 lead in the game before Ferreira evened the game for a deciding point. With a shot from the Ferreira landing just long, Moore clinched the set at 6-2 and the win for the Lumberjacks.
Along with the victory comes a berth in the NCAA Tournament, with the Lumberjacks set to find out their fate on Monday at 3 p.m. locally in Flagstaff. The first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament will be hosted at school sites, with the women playing on Friday, May 7 to open the tournament regardless of location or opponent.
