PHOENIX, Ariz. (April 28, 2023) — The Lumberjacks are heading back to the Big Sky Tournament Championship match after taking down the Idaho State Bengals in a 4-1 semifinal matchup on Friday morning.
For the first time since the 2021 season, NAU will face off in the conference tournament championship match against the Idaho Vandals tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. MST at the Phoenix Tennis Center. The match is free and open to the public to attend. Live scoring for the match will be available here.
Dominik Buzonics and Daniel Dillon started doubles off strong for the Jacks, quickly pulling out a 6-4 victory at the No. 3. Both courts one and two were forced into tiebreaks, with Idaho State finding the edge on each court to clinch the doubles point. Facundo Tumosa and Maikel De Boes fell at the No. 1 to Andreas Kramer and Valentino De Pellegrin, 7-6. Alex Groves and Piotr Galus dropped only their fourth as a duo this season in a 7-6 match against Patrick Kristensen and Wikus Robbertse.
Looking to make the comeback victory, the Jacks began singles play with De Boes at the No. 1, Galus at the No. 2, Tumosa at the No. 3, Buzonics at the No. 4, Groves at the No. 5, and Torres at the No. 6.
Groves put the Jacks on the board with a dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory against Robbertse at the No. 5 to even things out. Following quickly, Galus closed out his match at the No. 2 with a consistent 6-2, 6-2 win against De Pellegrin. Shortly after, Buzonics extended the Jacks lead to 3-1 with a victory against Victor Sklenka in a 6-3, 6-3 match at the No. 4.
The Jacks final point came down to the wire as Torres forced a third set after dropping the first set 2-6, and bouncing back with a 6-1 second set. Facundo Tumosa found a quick 6-1 win in the first set before falling 4-6 in the second set. The Senior was able to clinch the match for the Jacks with a 6-4 third set victory to send NAU back to the championship match.
The Idaho Vandals clinched their semifinal match against Sacramento State with a close 4-3 victory as Fransisco Gay clinched the match with a three-set victory against the Hornets. The last time NAU and Idaho met was April 2 in Moscow where the Jacks claimed a 5-2 victory against the Vandals. NAU dropped the doubles point along with the No. 1 matchup, before going 5-0 through courts 2-6 to take down the Vandals.
Galus earned a three-set victory to UI's Fransisco Gay in 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 fashion at the No. 2, followed by Tumor's 7-5, 6-4 victory to Bruno Casino at the No. 3. Buzonics earned a dominant 6-1, 6-4 win to Matteo Masala at the No. 4 alongside No. 5 Groves' 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 victory to Mario Duron and Maciej Ziomber's 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory at the No. 6 while facing Taiyo Kurata.
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