SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (February 27, 2022) – After dropping the opening set on five courts in singles play, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks pushed the No. 33 Utah Utes to a third set on four courts.
While the Lumberjacks (1-5, 0-1 Big Sky) ultimately fell 4-0, their first-ever meeting with the nationally ranked Utes (11-1) included a handful of impressive performances for a still short-handed Northern Arizona team.
Opening the day in doubles,
Annabel Davis and
Gina Dittmann battled back from a 4-0 deficit on Court 1 to come within a game of Utah's top pairing. Beating Linda Huang and Madison Tattini in four of five games, Davis and Dittmann drew within a game at 5-4 before falling 6-4 to close out the doubles point for the Utes.
While Northern Arizona's No. 1 pairing tried to even up doubles at one victory apiece,
Elinor Beazley and
Laura Duhl battled to a 6-6 draw in an unfinished match on Court 3.
Leading 3-1 after Beazley held serve, Northern Arizona's No. 3 pairing dropped four of five games to trial 5-4. Duhl quickly won on serve, as did Utah and then Beazley once again to wind up even after 12 games.
Moving into singles play,
Sofia Markova earned the Lumberjacks' lone first-set victory with a 7-5 win over Lindsey Hung at No. 3. After dropping the second set 6-3, Markova led 3-2 before her match concluded as Utah clinched the team victory.
Utah's win was temporarily put on hold by Beazley, who played at No. 2 in a spring match for the first time in her career. Falling to Emily Dush 6-1 in the opening set, Beazley battled to a victory in an exhausting second set.
Tied at 1-1 early on, Beazley had to come back from 4-1 to tie the set again at 4-4. Neither Beazley nor Dush led by more than a game from that point on, with Beazley never taking the lead in the set until winning a tiebreaker at 6-6.
Jumping ahead 4-0, Beazley split the next six tiebreaker points to force a deciding third set. However, Beazley found herself in another hole and dropped the set 6-0 to close out the day.
Dittmann, playing at No. 1, and Duhl at No. 6 also came back from first-set losses to force a third.
After falling 6-4 in her opening set, Dittmann pulled ahead 3-0 and withstood a small rally by Huang. Losing back-to-back games, Dittmann rattled off three straight to move into a third set, ending her day unfinished at a 4-3 on Court 1. Duhl lost 6-2 at No. 6, but earned her own 7-5 victory in the second and was tied 4-4 in the third with Samantha Horwood when the match came to an early end.
Northern Arizona heads to Laramie, Wyoming next to face the Wyoming Cowgirls (5-6) on Thursday, March 3. Wyoming last played on Feb. 20, defeating MSU Devnver 7-0. The Cowgirls, who fell to the Lumberjacks 5-2 in Flagstaff last season, hold wins over three non-Division I opponents and Southeastern Louisiana as well as a victory against Montana State in October.
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