FARMINGTON, Utah (December 18, 2023) – For the fifth time in six years, the Lumberjacks have been picked to finish first in the conference standings this year while receiving six first-place votes, as voted on by Big Sky head coaches.
As the Jacks were voted first, Sacramento State, Idaho State, Idaho, Montana, and Weber State round out the top teams picked behind NAU in the poll. The Jacks picked up victories to all five of those opponents in the regular season last year, adding a tournament win to Idaho State as well.
After falling to Idaho by one point in the conference championships, the Lumberjacks will look to rebuild and come out on top as the Jacks will return six players while welcoming
Jakub Prachar of Prague and
Lance Urlaub of Phoenix, Ariz.
Prachar will join the Lumberjacks from Prague, Czech Republic. Prachar's highest ranking in the Czech Republic was No. 4, and the 2023 newcomer has won 10 ITF tournament titles. Prahcar has been ranked in the top fifteen junior players and under since 2018.
Urlaub is a 4-star recruit coming up the mountain from Phoenix, Arizona and was named the second-best recruit out of Arizona for the 2023 class. The incoming Lumberjack will graduate from Desert Vista high school in 2023. Both of Lance's parents played Division I tennis, James Urlaub, Lance's father, played at UTEP while his mother, Andrea Urlaub, played at the University of Oregon.
Urlaub was named the Arizona high school tennis player of the year in both 2021 and 2022, after winning the state championship in 2021 and going undefeated in regular season singles play. In 2022, Urlaub was honored as a high school Tennis All-American by the Tennis All-American Foundation and was ranked highest at No. 63 by the USTA in the 18 and under rankings.
NAU Tennis saw success this fall in a few invitationals and duals as the team looked to build momentum heading into the regular season this spring, while bringing in victories at the ITA Mountain Regionals to some familiar faces.
Dani Torres started things off in the main draw of singles play with a victory over Air Force's Kyle Garner in a 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 match, moving on to the round of 32. Torres went on to take a three-set win against Denver's Peter Sallay in 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 fashion. In the round of 16 Torres picked up a dominating victory over BYU's Wally Thayne 7-5, 6-0. Torres dropped in the quarterfinals matchup to Utah State's Stijn Paardekooper in a 6-2, 6-4 match.
Dominik Buzonics earned a 7-5, 6-2 win against New Mexico State's Gustavo Campos to begin singles play in the main draw. Buzonics continued with a win against Montana State's Dario Ciobotaru in a 6-3, 6-2 match. Buzonics fell in the round of 16 to Utah State's Bodin Zarkovic.
Maikel De Boes picked up a victory to Big Sky opponent Montana State's Jacob Huppin in a 7-5, 6-3 match to begin singles play in the main draw. De Boes dropped in the round of 32 to Denver's Nicolas Herrera Cuesta.
Jakub Prachar began singles play in the consolation draw with two BYE matches before earning a 6-3, 5-7, 11-9 victory match to Montana State's Andras Necz. Prachar went on to compete in the consolation semifinals, falling to Boise State's Jett Middleton.
De Boes and Torres earned an 8-6 victory to open up doubles play of the main draw against Boise State's duo of James Van Herzeele and Caden Moortgat before falling to Utah's Geronimo Busleiman and Berk Bugarikj.
Finding the biggest success of the weekend
, Morgan Donovan won the Falcon Draw. The Falcon Draw was a part of Air Force's 'Falcon Invitational', separate from the ITA Mountain Regionals. Donovan earned a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Air Force's own, Phillip Dell to begin the draw. Donovan went undefeated through the championships, picking up a 6-7, 7-6 (10-7) victory against Utah's Gianluca Citadini.
Maciej Ziomber and
Lance Urlaub paired up for the main draw of doubles play earning a victory against the four-seed Denver pairing of Marvin Schaber and Peter Sallay in an 8-4 match.
Buzonics and Prachar made strides in the main draw of doubles play, picking up an 8-4 victory to Montana State's Jacob Huppin and Adrian Daniel. Moving on to the round of 32, the duo earned an 8-4 win against Idaho's Taiyo Kurata and Sebastian Medica. In the quarterfinals, Buzonics and Prachar picked up another 8-4 win against Utah State's pairing of Paardekooper and Nuno Pinheiro. NAU's duo dropped to the two-seed in the semifinals.
The Jacks 2024 schedule will be announced later this week on nauathletics.com, follow NAU Tennis on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to stay up to date.
2024 Big Sky Men's Tennis Preseason Poll
1. Northern Arizona (6) – 62
2. Sacramento State (3) – 59
3. Idaho State – 45
4. Idaho – 40
T5. Montana – 35
T5. Weber State – 35
7. Montana State – 21
8. Portland State – 19
9. Eastern Washington – 8
* - First-Place Votes in Parentheses
