FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 3, 2022) – More than two weeks removed from their season opener in Tempe against the Arizona State Sun Devils, the Northern Arizona women's tennis team heads back to Albuquerque, N.M. for a pair of weekend matches.
Spending the end of October at the New Mexico Halloween Classic to wrap up their fall schedule, the Lumberjacks came away with four singles wins and a split in two doubles matches against the Lobos.
The programs will face off once again on Friday, Feb. 4 at 12 p.m., the 12th consecutive season they will face one another. Last spring, the Lumberjacks rolled through the Lobos for a 4-0 victory in Flagstaff.
While leading on the three remaining singles courts, Northern Arizona clinched the win after
Gina Dittmann,
Mimi Bland and
Ava Neyestani won in straight sets at No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 respectively. The victory was Northern Arizona's fourth in the past five meetings with New Mexico after dropping 19 of the first 22 matches between the schools.
During the fall, Dittmann and Neyestani earned wins over the Lobos alongside
Elinor Beazley and newcomer
Laura Duhl.
New Mexico enters the match at 3-0 in the spring, beating Colorado College, Metro State and CSU Pueblo by a combined score of 17-2. Northern Arizona will be New Mexico's first Division I opponent this spring as the Lobos host both the Lumberjacks and the Abilene Christian Wildcats.
After facing New Mexico, Northern Arizona will take on Abilene Christian on Saturday at 10 a.m., the second all-time meeting between the teams.
The Lumberjacks handed the Wildcats a 4-1 loss when the programs played in Las Cruces, N.M. during the 2018 season. Just one current Lumberjack was on the roster, with
Ellie Millard beating Illena Mocciola 6-2, 6-4 at No. 5. Now a grad student, Mocciola has spent the first seven spring matches playing either No. 3 or No. 5.
Abilene Christian (4-4) dropped four straight matches to start the spring, as it was swept 4-0 by TCU, North Texas, SMU and Texas Tech before beginning its current four-match win streak. The Wildcats beat the UTSA Roadrunners 4-3 followed by wins over Angelo State 6-1, Dallas Baptist 7-0 and Tyler Junior College 5-2.
After the pair of matches, the Lumberjacks will take another week off before heading south to Tucson to face the Arizona Wildcats and San Jose State Spartans on Feb. 18 and 19. For updated scores and coverage of the NAU women's tennis team during the spring season, follow the team on
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Facebook.
