Lumberjacks Take Thrilling Victory Against Wildcats, 4-3

The Lumberjacks had to fight hard for their first conference win of the season, grinding out a tough victory against the Weber State Wildcats 4-3. It looked like Northern Arizona may secure an easy victory, but a surge by the Wildcats across four courts meant the match would come down to the wire. Ultimately Freshman Patrycja Niewiadomska came up big in a third set that required a late comeback.
 
In a rematch of last year's conference championship, the Lumberjacks and Wildcats both searched to open their conference schedules with a win. NAU also hoped to keep their unbeaten home record intact.
 
It was clear from the opening of the doubles matches that there was very little to separate the two squads. The Lumberjacks took early leads on court two and court three while Weber State jumped ahead on court one and wouldn't look back, taking an early advantage with a 6-1 victory. The Lumberjacks weren't far behind however, locking up a win of their own on court two behind the pairing of Sophomore Laura Duhl and Niewiadomska, who won 6-2. This meant the doubles point came down to the Junior duo of Ava Neyestani and Sofia Markova. The two had taken an early lead and, despite a push from the Wildcats, would hold on to win 6-4 and secure the doubles point for the Lumberjacks.
 
The Lumberjacks extended their lead with dominant wins on court six (Duhl) and four (Neystani). Duhl held her momentum out of the doubles portion and swiftly secured the point, 6-2, 6-2. Neystani had to work a little harder as her first set required a tie breaker, in which she prevailed 7-5. The junior would not leave anything to doubt in the second set, winning 6-2.
 
Leading 3-0 it seemed the Lumberjacks had victory in their hands, but the Wildcats would force them to fight for it. Junior Ana Karen Guadiana Campos had fallen in her first set 6-0, but showed incredible resilience and brought the second set all the way to a tiebreaker in a back and forth affair. Guadiana would fall, giving Weber State their first point of the day. The Wildcats earned their second on court five, again needing a tie breaker to top Freshman Daryna Shoshyna in the second set but still winning 6-1, 7-6.
 
After pulling back to within one, the Wildcats needed to win both remaining matches in order to complete the comeback. Markova had dominated in set one, winning 6-1 but had been unable to put away her opponent in the second set which finished 7-5 in favor of the Wildcats. Niewiadomska had also won her first set 6-4 but had dropped the second 6-3.
 
All eyes shifted to courts one and three as the match remained up for grabs. Both Lumberjacks fell behind as the Wildcats capitalized on their momentum from the previous set. Niewiadomska kept it close enough to allow for a later run, but Markova could not overcome the early run and would fall 6-1.
 
It all came down to a suspenseful final set on court three. Niewiadomska had come back from an early deficit and even take the lead 5-4. However neither player was going to give in easily and the third set would go to a tie breaker. Niewiadomska fell behind 3-5 but would snap back into gear and win the next four points and secure a long awaited victory. After securing the final point Niewiadomska was quickly swarmed by her teammates who had been cheering her on through the final set.
 
The Lumberjacks don't have long to recover from this exhilarating win as they face the Colorado State Rams on February 26th. The Rams and Lumberjacks will meet in the Aquatics and Tennis Center at 10 a.m. in a match up between two ranked teams before the Lumberjacks begin a four game road trip.
 
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