MALIBU, Calif. (May 7, 2021) – Just a few hours after the Big Sky Conference announced she had won both Freshman of the Year and MVP, Northern Arizona's
Gina Dittmann showed just how impressive she can be on the court.
Taking the first set of her match against Pepperdine's Ashley Lahey with a score of 6-2, Dittmann registered the first singles set won by a Lumberjack at the NCAA Tournament. The freshman's match on Court 1 against the nation's No. 77-ranked player went unfinished, with the Waves clinching a 4-0 team victory thanks to the doubles point and a trio of singles wins.
Ellie Millard and
Mimi Bland opened the day with an impressive performance in doubles, battling back from a 2-0 deficit at No. 1 against Lahey and Lisa Zaar to even the match at 4-4 before the Waves clinched on the other two courts.
"I'm proud of the girls and their entire season. We had some chances today, especially at No. 1 in doubles and singles," said NAU head coach
Ewa Bogusz. "Mimi and Ellie were playing tight and Gina's performance just proved everything she's accomplished this season. I wish we could've finish those matches but this is how things are. At the end of the day we win together or we lose together, and today Pepperdine was a stronger team."
Bland sent a winner into the corner to break Pepperdine's serve, with Millard soon evening the match at 2-2 while on serve. The sides each held serve from there on, with Bland evening the score again at 3-3 and Millard doing so once more at 4-4.
Dittmann and
Elinor Beazley battled back from a 3-0 deficit themselves to even their match at No. 2, breaking serve twice around a win with Dittmann at the service line. While Pepperdine's Shiori Fukuda and Taisiya Pachkaleva bounced back, clinching the doubles point with a run of three straight games, the freshman and sophomore impressed in their first career NCAA Tournament match.
While the Waves took an early lead on a handful of courts, Dittmann and Bland battled at the top two spots in the lineup.
Bland broke No. 21 Jessica Failla's serve at No. 2 for her first game of the day, soon evening the first set at 2-2 at the service line. Bland temporarily took the lead in the set, with another break putting her ahead 3-2, but Failla answered with four straight games to close out the set.
The nation's No. 1-ranked player for much of the abbreviated 2019-20 season, and preseason No. 1 entering the 2020-21 campaign, Lahey struggled for much of her match against NAU's impressive freshman.
Dittmann took a quick 2-0 lead in the first set before Lahey won on serve to cut it back to 2-1. With Dittmann at the service line and a deciding 40-40 point, Lahey even up the set with a win, though it would be her last in the opener.
After breaking back to maintain the lead in the set, Dittmann rolled to a 60-0 victory on serve and broke Lahey again to take a commanding 5-2 lead. During the stretch, Dittmann put together a run of nine straight points as she eventually extended her streak of sets won to 23 dating back to late February.
Dittmann closed out the set victory battling back from a 40-15 deficit on serve, winning the set 6-2. The freshman opened her second set with yet another victory before Lahey rolled off three straight of her own. Dittmann's day came to an end after winning another break point, trailing 3-2 as her match at No. 1 went unfinished.
The Lumberjacks wrap up their season with a 14-5 record overall, an 18-match win streak in Flagstaff and 17 straight victories against Big Sky Conference opponents.
