FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (April 16, 2023) — Northern Arizona University Women's Tennis concluded a dominant 2023 season with a sweep of Sacramento State and defeated the Hornets for the third consecutive time.
Before the match, seniors Elinor Beazley and Mimi Bland were honored for Northern Arizona's Senior Day. The two end their time in Flagstaff as a part of the first Lumberjacks squad to go undefeated in conference play aside from COVID seasons since the team went 11-0 in the 2017-18 season.
The doubles battle was one for the ages, with the Lumberjacks jumping out to a 3-1 lead on all three courts and they looked to be in the driver's seat. However, the Hornets fought back and tied each court at three-all to take the point to the brink for a whole hour.
Sophomore Laura Duhl and freshman Patrycja Niewiadomska had their early lead fade away against junior Mayya Gorbunova and senior Tsveti Yotova. The Sacramento State duo rallied from down 3-0 to win four games in a row and only lose one point on their way to a 6-4 victory on Court 2.
Court 1 became another close match, but the Lumberjacks never trailed. Beazley and Ana Karen Guadiana Campos staved off sophomore Weronika Ejsmont and redshirt sophomore Best Lee after the Hornets tied the match at 5-5. Northern Arizona made one last push to win the extra set needed to win, 7-5.
The deciding match on Court 3 went even further. Bland and junior Ava Neyestani trailed 3-5 and were one point away from dropping their first point as a duo this season. The Lumberjacks tied the match at five against sophomores Maddy Ferreros and Julia Moraes. The Hornets took the next point only for Bland and Neyestani to respond and send the match into a 6-6 tiebreaker.
Northern Arizona went on a monster run to sweep the tiebreaker point 7-0 with the cheers getting louder for every point. Bland and Neyestani end the regular season 4-0 as a duo. The Lumberjacks entered singles with a 1-0 lead.
The Lumberjacks made it look a lot easier in singles play where all but one court won the first set.
Niewiadomska was the first to complete her match and grow her team-best 15-3 singles record over Ejsmont with a clean, 6-1, 6-1 victory on Court 3.
Neyestani did not need a comeback against Lee as she earned her 10th singles win in 17 matches this season. She breezed through the first set in a sweep and doubled up Lee in the second set to win, 6-0, 6-3.
The Lumberjacks clinched the match and the undefeated conference season on Court 2 as Guadiana Campos was dominant against Ferreros with a 6-2, 6-2 win to end her season 11-6 in singles play. Both players entered the match with 10 wins this season, and Guadiana Campos got the last laugh.
Continuing the trend, Duhl also earned her 10th win this season and ninth on Court 6 to grow Northern Arizona's win with a 6-3, 7-6 victory over Moraes.
The remaining two matches required a third set to determine the winner. Freshman Daryna Shoshyna had a back-and-forth bout against Yotova. Shoshyna and Yotova split the first two sets at 6-1 apiece. The deciding set was more competitive. Shoshyna started with a 3-0 lead but Yotova won three of the next four to close in by one. Shoshyna found one last spark and won the match by winning on a deuce.
Junior Sofia Markova completed the perfect season finale with a gritty Court 1 victory against Gorbunova that took a long third-set tiebreaker. The first set was much like the ending of the match with neither competitor getting more than a game ahead most of the time. The set went into a tiebreaker where Gorbunova broke a 5-5 stalemate with two straight points. Markova won a fairly tame second set 6-4 to set up a first-to-10 final tiebreaker. Just like the first set, there was almost no separation between the two. Markova won four of the last six points to finally seal the sweep with a final score of 6-7 (7-5), 6-4, 10-8.
Northern Arizona finishes the season 12-6 and a perfect 8-0 in the Big Sky Conference, reinforcing the regular season title the Lumberjacks secured thanks to Weber State's loss to Eastern Washington on Friday. Northern Arizona will have the No. 1 seed in the Big Sky Conference Women's Tennis Championship Tournament in Phoenix, Arizona from April 27 to April 29.
The Lumberjacks will advance straight to the semifinals where they will face the lowest remaining seed to come out of the quarterfinal round on April 28 at 8 a.m. PST.
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