OGDEN, Utah (February 25, 2022) – Playing without a pair of their returners from the 2021 Big Sky Conference championship match, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks fell to the Weber State Wildcats 4-3 Friday afternoon in Ogden, Utah.
The loss snapped Northern Arizona's 19-match win streak against Weber State dating back to 2006, as well as the Lumberjacks' 13-match win streak in the Big Sky Conference. Northern Arizona's Big Sky opener came down to the final few singles matches, just as last week's matchup with San Jose State did, with the Lumberjacks splitting singles play following a loss in doubles.
Weber State swept doubles, first winning on Court 3 with Megan Lombardi and Yuuna Ukita winning 6-2 before emerging with victories at No. 1 and No. 2 following a pair of battles.
Annabel Davis and
Gina Dittmann just missed evening the doubles matches, falling to Megan Davies and Sicely Ferreira at No. 1, 7-5.
Sofia Markova and
Ava Neyestani finished their match at No. 2 in a tiebreaker, falling to Pei-Hsuan Kuo and Ana Morett 7-6.
With both
Mimi Bland and
Ellie Millard out of the lineup, Northern Arizona's No. 2 and No. 3 in last season's Big Sky Conference Championship, the Lumberjacks shuffled their singles order.
Laura Duhl earned the first singles victory of the day at No. 5, beating Ferreira 6-2, 7-5. Dittmann pushed Northern Arizona ahead 2-1 with a 6-4, 6-4 victory at No. 1 over Megan Davies, but the Wildcats came up with three consecutive victories to close out the match.
Morett beat Markova 6-4, 6-4 at No. 2 before Kuo gave Weber State the lead with a 6-2, 7-6 win against
Elinor Beazley. Battling in her second set, Davis dropped her match at No. 6 6-4, 7-5 to Lombardi as Neyestani closed out the day with a 7-6, 4-6, 10-6 win at No. 4.
Northern Arizona, now 1-4 this season with a pair of losses to nationally-ranked opponents in Arizona State and Arizona, will now face No. 33 Utah on Sunday at 9 a.m.
Match Results:
Doubles:
- Megan Davies/Sicely Ferreira (WSU) def. Annabel Davis/Gina Dittmann (NAU), 7-5*
- Pei-Hsuan Kuo/Ana Morett (WSU) def. Sofia Markova/Ava Neyestani (NAU), 7-6
- Megan Lombardi/Yuuna Ukita (WSU) def. Elinor Beazley/Laura Duhl (NAU), 6-2
*Clinched Doubles Point | Order of Finish: (3, 1, 2)
Singles:
- Gina Dittmann (NAU) def. Megan Davies (WSU), 6-4, 6-4
- Ana Morett (WSU) def. Sofia Markova (NAU), 6-4, 6-4
- Pei-Hsuan Kuo (WSU) def. Elinor Beazley (NAU), 6-2, 7-6
- Ava Neyestani (NAU) def. Yuuna Ukita (WSU), 7-6, 4-6, 10-6
- Laura Duhl (NAU) def. Megan Lombardi (WSU), 6-2, 7-5
- Sicely Ferreira (WSU) def. Annabel Davis (NAU), 6-4, 7-5**
**Clinched Match | Order of Finish: (5, 1, 2, 3, 6, 4)
