FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (April 23, 2022) - Northern Arizona Men's Tennis earned a 4-3 victory at home to close out the regular season to the Idaho State Bengals in the 'Jacks senior day.
The Lumberjacks honored four athletes who will be graduating and leaving the program after the spring season ahead of Saturday's match in Eban Straker-Meads, Chris Steele, Marcus Sulen, and Joachim Schaefer.
"They have been here with me from the very beginning so they are very special to me and this program. I'm glad we could get a win on their senior day," Head Coach Maciej Bogusz said.
As the conference has proven to be competitive all season long, the Lumberjacks battled for the win in Flagstaff today, as they went into the match playing for a chance in a four way tie for first place in the Big Sky.
The 'Jacks dropped the doubles point to the Bengals, after a battle on all three courts, Alex Groves and Dominik Buzonics earned NAU's lone doubles match victory in a 6-3 match on court two.
Groves and Buzonics extended their doubles record to 17-7, marking the team's best doubles record through the season. Eban Straker-Meads and doubles partner Facundo Tumosa fell in their match 3-6, as the pair dropped the last three consecutive points of the match.
Seniors Chris Steele and Marcus Sullen played their first doubles match of the season together at the No. 3 position, coming back from a 0-4 score, to tie it at 4-4, dropping the last two points of the match to fall 4-6, giving the Bengals the doubles point.
In true Groves fashion, the Junior secured NAU's first point of the day with a 6-2, 6-1 match win at the No. 5 position to ISU's Hiroki Fujita. With today's victory, Groves improves to 18-6 in overall singles in the regular season, leading the 'Jacks as they head into the Big Sky tournament.
Freshman Dani Torres stepped up at the No. 6 position, quickly bringing in a 6-2 set victory, before battling in a 7-6 (7-5) second set tiebreaker win. Torres moves to 10-6 in singles play in his first regular season as a Lumberjack.
In a fiery match at the No. 4 position, Maciej Ziomber and Bengals' Ege Cankus were playing point for point after a 6-3 first set victory for Ziomber. In the tiebreaker, Ziomber came out on top for the 7-6 win, putting the 'Jacks up 3-1. Ziomber's overall singles record improved to 17-6.
As courts one, two, and three were in close sets, the heat turned up for the Lumberjacks to clinch the victory. Buzonics won his first set at the No. 3 position, 6-2. The second set showed a closer match between NAU's sophomore and ISU's Andreas Kramer, as the match came down to a 6-6 tie, before Buzonics clinched the tiebreaker, in a 7-6 (7-5) match.
Buzonics secured NAU's victory in their last regular season match, and improved his own overall singles record to 16-9. Straker-Meads fell to Patrick Kristensen 7-6, 6-3 at the No. 2 position, followed by Tumosa's 4-6, 7-5, 3-6 loss at the No. 1 position.
With today's victory, the Lumberjacks move to a 18-8 record, highlighting a 6-2 Big Sky record through the regular season.
As the University of Idaho clinched a share of the Big Sky regular season title in a 7-0 sweep at Portland State, the 'Jacks will wait to see where they fall in the standings after the Montana and Montana State match this afternoon.
The quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament will begin this Thursday at the Phoenix Tennis Center. Semifinals will take place on Friday, followed by the final match that is set to take place on Saturday, April 30.
"We just have to do a good job making the transition now down to the low altitude and get some good practices in Phoenix, and be ready for the heat and all the challenges we're going to face down there," Bogusz said.
For updates on NAU's seeding in the Big Sky Tournament, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
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Gallery: (4-23-2022) NAU vs Idaho State - 4/23/2022
