FLAGSTAFF, Ariz (March 15, 2023) - The No. 65-ranked Northern Arizona Men's Tennis team swept its doubleheader against Pratt Community College and University of Nebraska Omaha in its first matches since earning what is a tie for the highest ITA ranking in program history.
The Lumberjacks have now won eight of their last nine matches and are 6-1 in Flagstaff this season.
Pratt Community College
Starting the first match of a doubleheader, Northern Arizona defended homecourt against the Pratt Community College Beavers with a 7-0 sweep.
The Lumberjacks made quick work of the Beavers in doubles play to secure the first point of the day. The duo of sophomore Piotr Galus and senior Alex Groves earned their team-best ninth win as a pair by sweeping sophomore David Arrieta and freshman Valentino Iveli on Court 2, 6-0.
Galus continued his momentum from being named Big Sky Player of the Week earlier in the day, marking the third Lumberjack in a row to get the award.
Northern Arizona secured the doubles point on Court 1 thanks to graduate Facundo Tumosa and freshman Maikel De Boes defeating sophomore Dante Despontin and freshman Gabriel Cuenea, 6-1.
Even after the doubles point was decided. The Lumberjacks swept on all three courts with junior Dominik Buzonics and graduate Daniel Dillon improving to 3-0 on the season together and taking down sophomore Nathaniel Moore and freshman Alex Ballinger on Court 3, 6-2.
The Lumberjacks continued their dominance by sweeping the six singles matches. Tumosa got the winning started with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Despontin on Court 1. Tumosa jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first set and never looked back, winning his eighth match of the season and seventh on Court 1.
On the other side of the match, sophomore Morgan Donovan never trailed against Valentino on Court 6 in his 6-1, 6-3. Donovan improved to 4-0 in singles on the season, with all wins in Court 6.
Buzonics officially clinched the match for Northern Arizona with his win over Arrieta on Court 3 in similar fashion to Donovan, 6-3, 6-1.
De Boes continued Northern Arizona's perfect run on Court 2 with a sweep over Cuenea in sets that were nearly identical to each other with De Boes managing a one-game lead for much of them before breaking away to win, 6-3, 6-2.
The matches on Courts 4 and 5 showed Northern Arizona's ability to win close matches as well. Sophomore Dani Torres was on a roll against Ballinger on Court 5 to take the first set 6-1 but came from behind to claim the second set. Torres won the final four games to turn a 3-5 deficit into a 7-5 clinching set.
Junior Maciej Ziomber concluded the Lumberjacks' sweeping victory by taking care of business after a close first set on Court 4. He won the final two games in Set 1 to take it, 7-5. Ziomber sealed the deal by winning the final three games to win the second and final set over sophomore Vitor Goncalves, 6-3.
Northern Arizona snapped Pratt Community College's three-match winning streak to put the Beavers at 4-4 this season to end its Arizona road trip.
University of Nebraska Omaha
The Lumberjacks stayed hot to start its second match of the day against the University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks, winning on the first two courts to secure the doubles points.
The duo of Galus and Groves was the first to finish for the second match in a row. The two defeated graduate Hugo Piles Ballester and senior Alvaro Quintana 6-3 on Court 2 to earn their 10th win as a pair by utilizing strong services earning a handful of return aces.
Northern Arizona clinched the doubles point moments later on Court 1 as Tumosa De Boes took down graduate Davis Lawley and sophomore Quintan Van Wijk by the same score, 6-3.
The battle on Court 3 between Buzonics and Dillon against freshmen Ryoma Mishiro and Ethan Gaubert went unfinished with the Lumberjacks leading 4-3 in the set and the active game tied at 30-all.
The Lumberjacks completed the doubleheader sweep with an equally strong performance in singles. De Boes won his match on Court 2 over Gaubert, 6-2, 6-0 to claim the first singles point and earn his ninth singles win this season.
Buzonics matched his performance earlier in the day with another solid victory this time on Court 4 where he beat Van Wijk, 6-1, 6-3.
The Mavericks picked up the only point against the Lumberjacks all day when Lawley went to battle with Tumosa on Court 1. Lawley led for much of the set before Tumosa tied it at 6-6, leading to a tiebreaker that Lawley won 7-4. Ohama took the point after another highly contested set ended with a 6-4 Lawley win to keep the Mavericks' hopes alive.
Not long after, Northern Arizona clinched the doubleheader sweep thanks to Ziomber defeating Quintana by coming back from down 0-2 in the second set on Court 6. Ziomber won the last three games to round out his sweep, 6-2, 7-5.
Reigning Big Sky Player of the Week Piotr Galus improved his singles record to 12-1 and remains undefeated against unranked opponents after taking care of business on Court 3 against Mishiro, 6-2, 6-4. It was Galus's second-straight singles match on Court 3 after winning against No. 68 Air Force last Friday.
While most other matches were ending. Groves and Ballester battled in a very long first set. A 6-6 tie was finally broken when Groves took it 11-9. Groves ended the day by winning three of the last four games in Set 2 to take it 6-4.
Omaha ends its three-match Arizona road trip at 9-7 before its first Summit League match at Miracle Hill Tennis Center against North Dakota on Friday, March 24 at 6 p.m.
NAU Men's Tennis (12-2, 1-0 Big Sky) concludes its three-match homestead and will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada for a match against UNLV on Saturday, March 18 at 11 a.m. MST. The Rebels entered Wednesday with a 7-5 record and play Purdue and Santa Clara before playing the Lumberjacks. UNLV will be in the middle of a six-match homestead at Fertitta Tennis Complex.
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