FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (March 31, 2023) – No. 67 Northern Arizona Women's Tennis moved to 5-0 in Big Sky play with a sweep against the Montana Griz. Despite a good fight on a few courts, NAU secured a big conference victory to start a stretch of four Big Sky matches to conclude their season.
The Lumberjacks entered Friday's match on a two match losing streak and hoping that they could turn the tides before the postseason. Despite the recent struggles, NAU still topped the Big Sky standings and had a chance to take another step towards a regular season title.
The doubles pairing of freshmen
Patrycja Niewiadomska and sophomore
Laura Duhl gave the Lumberjacks an early advantage, as they ran past their opponents 6-1 on court two. The other two matches were hotly contested however, as early on both groups struggled to create separation. Junior
Ava Neyestani and senior
Mimi Bland would ultimately secure the doubles point for the Lumberjacks as they caught fire midway through the match, winning 6-3 on court three. The court one duo, senior
Elinor Beazley and junior Ana Guadiana, fell after a close set, 6-4.
The Lumberjacks didn't leave anything to doubt during their singles matches. Niewiadomska and Duhl put themselves in great positions and ultimately had no trouble furthering the Lumberjacks' cause, winning 6-1, 6-3 and 6-1, 6-1 respectively. This meant NAU needed just one more win to secure victory. That point would come from court one as junior
Sofia Markova put together a dominant performance during her second set. The German had struggled early in the opening set, but once she got rolling she didn't stop and secured a Lumberjack victory with a 6-3, 6-1 match.
Even with the victory secured, NAU still looked for a sweep. Guadiana had been locked in a heated battle on court 2, but the junior slowly pulled away from her opponent and won 6-4, 6-3. Neyestani needed a tie breaking third set, but the junior came from behind and didn't look back as she managed a narrow 6-2, 3-6, 10-7 win. The final piece of the puzzle came from Beazley, who also overcame a second set deficit and secured the Lumberjack sweep with a 6-4, 7-5 match.
With their Big Sky record still perfect, the Lumberjacks won't have long to rest before they once again put it on the line. NAU is back in action against the Montana State Bobcats on Sunday April 2nd at the Aquatics and Tennis Center at 10 a.m. NAU will hope to take another step in their Big Sky title defense.
