FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 16, 2022) – After another two weeks of waiting, the Northern Arizona women's tennis team heads south to Tucson this weekend for a pair of matches against the Arizona Wildcats and the San Jose State Spartans.
The two matches, scheduled for Friday at 2 p.m. with the Wildcats and 12 p.m. Saturday with the Spartans, stand as the final tune-ups for the Lumberjacks before beginning Big Sky Conference play.
Northern Arizona heads to Weber State on Feb. 25, the conference opener for both programs and just the second Big Sky match this spring.
Before the Lumberjacks begin the defense of their Big Sky Conference championship with a rematch of last year's championship match, they will face the Wildcats for the 39th time in program history. The second most-common opponent all-time, trailing only Weber State, Arizona has faced Northern Arizona in 17 of the past 18 seasons.
In a pair of matches last season, Northern Arizona earned three singles victories as well as a doubles win against Arizona.
Falling 6-1 in the first meeting on Feb. 4, the Lumberjacks' lone win came from
Gina Dittmann as she defeated Kayla Wilkins 6-2, 6-4 at No. 1. Facing off a second time a day later, Northern Arizona picked up a second win in its 5-2 loss as
Mimi Bland beat Talya Zandberg 1-6, 6-4, 10-5 at No. 3 while Dittmann won 6-0, 6-4 against Jelena Lukic at No. 1. Dittmann and
Elinor Beazley also closed out doubles with a 7-6 (7-2) win at No. 3 over Wilkins and Emily Maxfield.
Wilkins returns as the Wildcats' No. 1 this season, playing on Court 1 in four of the team's five matches this season. Salma Ziouti, a graduate transfer from Drexel, has taken over as the primary No. 2, holding a 4-0 record at the position this season.
Lexi Ryngler, a transfer from Pepperdine, and freshmen Midori Castillo-Meza, Parker Fry and Belen Nevenhoven are also in their first seasons with Arizona as the Wildcats enter this season's matchup with a drastically different lineup compared to the 2021 season.
Through five matches this spring, Arizona holds a 4-1 record, with 7-0 victories over UTEP and New Mexico State before facing a trio of close finishes. Beating San Diego State 4-2, Arizona then lost to Michigan State 4-3 and beat Western Michigan 4-3 last Thursday.
While the Wildcats are a common opponent for the Lumberjacks, it's been nearly 15 years since Northern Arizona faced San Jose State.
The Spartans, 15-2 a year ago with a Mountain West Conference championship, returns all six of its primary players from last season while adding Oleksandra Andrieieva to the top of their lineup. Andrieieva, an All-Conference USA singles and doubles player for Old Dominion, is 2-1 on Court 1 this season.
San Jose State's only regular season loss last season came at UNLV where Northern Arizona left with a 4-2 victory in March. The Spartans earned eight of their 15 victories by a score of 4-3, including five during conference play.
In 2022, San Jose State has beaten Sacramento State 6-1 and Cal State Fullerton 4-3 while dropping its most recent match 5-2 to the CSUN Matadors on Feb. 6 in Northridge, Calif.
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