FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (March 27, 2022) – Settling into Big Sky Conference play following a challenging nonconference schedule, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks completed their first 7-0 sweep of the season Sunday afternoon at the Aquatic and Tennis Center.
Quickly securing the doubles point with wins on all three courts, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (5-7, 3-1 Big Sky) wrapped up the team victory with a trio of straight set victories in singles before closing out the sweep with battles on Courts 1 and 5 against the Eastern Washington Eagles (3-9, 2-3).
"We had a great had a great turnout with campus kids day so that's awesome that a lot of them show up and I am glad they were able to see some good tennis from our girls and good energy coming from the doubles," said Lumberjacks head coach
Ewa Bogusz. "We got all three, so that was very nice to see. A few three-setters in singles, but I am happy with how we responded to our opponents raising up the level here and there."
Improving to 5-0 as a pairing,
Gina Dittmann and
Ava Neyestani secured the doubles point with a 6-2 victory over Scout Mathews and Jennifer Kida, Eastern Washington's No. 1 and No. 2 singles players. With the score 3-2 in favor of the Lumberjacks early on, Neyestani won on her serve and a break point victory allowed Dittmann to clinch the match at the service line.
Mimi Bland and
Annabel Davis opened doubles with a decisive 6-1 victory at No. 1 against Isabella Foshee and Yasmin Mansouri, winning the final five games in the 6-1 decision.
Pairing together for the first time in their Lumberjack careers,
Laura Duhl and
Sofia Markova closed out the doubles sweep with a 6-3 final against Renata Gabuzyan and Kenzington Mann at No. 2.
Neyestani wasted no time in improving to 11-0 in Flagstaff, handing Mann a 6-3, 6-0 loss on Court 6 to put Northern Arizona ahead 2-0. Bland added to her growing win streak, beating Mathews 6-3, 6-1 on Court 2 for a fourth straight win, a 3-0 record in Big Sky matches and a 5-1 mark at No. 2.
With Northern Arizona just one point away from victory, both Markova and Beazley closed in on being the clinching match. While both players won their opening set 6-4 at No. 3 and No. 4 respectively, their second sets went in different directions. While Markova cruised to a 6-1 second set against Mansouri to wrap up the team win, Beazley wore down Gabuzyan over the final four games.
After leading by a game early on, Beazley temporarily fell even at 4-4 before winning three of the final four to avoid a tiebreaker and register the team's fifth win.
"I knew it was coming sooner rather than later, I am glad she was able to pull this one off at home where we have a 7-0 sweep," Bogusz said. "She is a tough player, and she has got a powerful game, so whether she is playing No. 4 or No. 2, she has chances anywhere in the lineup so I am glad she is back on the right track."
Having won their opening sets 6-2 and 6-4, Dittmann and Duhl became the final two players on the court after dropping their second sets. On Court 5, Foshee rallied back for a 6-3 win against Duhl after taking a 4-1 lead and holding off a comeback attempt with the final four games split.
Similarly, Dittmann fell behind 4-1 in the second set and could not rally back against Kida and found herself in danger of dropping her first career match in Flagstaff with a 3-1 deficit in the third set.
While Duhl closed out her match at No. 5 in a 10-point tiebreak, ultimately winning 6-4, 3-6, 10-4 with a strong run in the tiebreaker after tying at 3-3, Dittmann rallied with the attention turned to Court 1. Winning on serve for the first of five straight game victories, Dittmann broke serve against Kida to even the match and took the lead with a dominant 60-0 game at the service line.
Beating Kida 60-0 again to break serve, Dittmann closed out the day with a back-and-fourth game concluding in a return error off her serve. The 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory improved the freshman to 9-2 this season, with an eight-match win streak, and 10-0 in Flagstaff.
Now 3-1 in the Big Sky, Northern Arizona trails only undefeated Weber State in the conference standings. Winners of three straight and four of the past five around a 4-3 loss at San Francisco, Northern Arizona heads to Montana to close out its conference road schedule. First facing the Montana State Bobcats (5-13, 2-3) at 9 a.m. on Friday April 1, Northern Arizona completes the swing through the state with a 1 p.m. match on Saturday against the Montana Grizzlies (5-12, 0-5).
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