FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (May 2, 2022) – Back into the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive time under head coach
Ewa Bogusz, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks will head off to Berkeley, California for a meeting with the No. 11-seed Cal Golden Bears.
The Lumberjacks (12-7) will make their first ever trip to Berkeley, Calif. and face the No. 11 Golden Bears (16-7) on Friday at 1 p.m. Ranked No. 11 in the ITA Division I Team Rankings released on April 27, the Golden Bears finished the Pac-12 regular season atop the conference standings at 8-1 before falling to Arizona State 4-3 in the tournament semifinals on April 22.
Ranked as high as No. 4 in the nation this season, Cal's regular season included an upset of then No. 2-ranked Pepperdine 4-3 in Malibu, Calif.
Junior Haley Giavara leads the team in the ITA Division I Singles Rankings, sitting at No. 63 in the most recent release. Giavara is 14-14 overall this season, including a 10-12 mark during the dual schedule with all 22 matches coming at No. 1. Last season, Giavara finished the spring season ranked No. 27 in the nation while playing in both the NCAA Singles Championship and the NCAA Doubles Championship.
Also ranked in singles is freshman Jessica Alsola at No. 75, who sits at 14-7 during the dual season and 31-9 overall this season. Alsola is 10-5 at No. 2 and 4-2 at No. 3 during the dual schedule.
The Golden Bears have three doubles pairings ranked in the ITA Division I Doubles Rankings as well, with Giavara and Valentina Ivanov at No. 31, Alsola and Erin Richardson at No. 54 and Alsola and Katja Wiersholm at No. 61.
Giavara and Ivanov hold a 7-7 record during the spring, and 16-7 record overall, while primarily playing No. 1 in the Golden Bears' lineup. Alsola and Richardson played together just twice during the spring dual schedule but hold a 10-2 mark in tournament play. Meanwhile, Alsola and Wiersholm finished the dual schedule 9-3 overall, including a 7-1 mark at No. 2.
Winning its sixth Big Sky Conference Tournament championship in program history, and third in a row since 2019, Northern Arizona defeated the Weber State Wildcats in the title match this past Saturday for the second consecutive year. Now on a run of six straight victories at Phoenix Tennis Center, the host for the Big Sky Conference championship, the Lumberjacks dropped just one point between their 4-0 semifinal win against the Idaho State Bengals and the 4-1 title match against the Wildcats.
Following last season's conference championship, Northern Arizona traveled to Malibu, Calif. to face the No. 5-seeded Pepperdine Waves. Ranked No. 4 in the ITA Division I Team Rankings, Pepperdine was the highest ranked team Northern Arizona faced in school history. The Lumberjacks had previously faced the No. 7 UCLA Bruins in 2019 and the No. 11 Arizona State Sun Devils in their first NCAA appearance back in 1999.
The Lumberjacks are still seeking their first victory within an NCAA Tournament match, falling 6-0 in 1999 with just six singles matches played as well as 4-0 in both 2019 and 2021 following doubles play and three completed singles matches.
During the 2019 match in Los Angeles, Adrianna Sosnowska and Chiara Tomasetti came close to an upset of the nation's No. 5-ranked doubles pairing of Gabby Andrews and Ayan Broomfield before falling 7-5. A year ago,
Ellie Millard and
Mimi Bland's match at No. 1 was left unfinished against Ashley Lahey and Lisa Zaar with the scored tied 4-4 before
Gina Dittmann took her opening set 6-2 against Lahey, the No. 77-ranked player, and trailed 3-2 in the second set before the match was left unfinished.
For the third consecutive NCAA Tournament, Northern Arizona's first-round opponent will provide the first ever meeting between the programs. In addition to Friday's match at the Hellman Tennis Complex between Northern Arizona and Cal, Texas Tech and Loyola Marymount will face off with the winners meeting in the second round on Saturday, May 7. It will be the 39th appearance in the NCAA tournament for Cal, who reached the finals in 2008 and 2009, and are coming off a Round of 16 appearance in last year's tournament.
For coverage of NAU Women's Tennis during the remainder of the postseason, follow the team on
Twitter,
Instagram and
Facebook.
