Women's Tennis Ends NAU's 26-Match Home Win Streak 4-3

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The Lobo women’s tennis team bounced back from just its second loss of the season with a stunning 4-3 victory over No. 64 Northern Arizona, ending the Lumberjacks’ 26-match home winning streak that stretched over four years.

Not a single Lobo was in college when Northern Arizona last lost a home match, on February 10, 2019 when Utah State beat NAU 4-2.  Northern Arizona was 44-2 at home since the beginning of the 2017 season, but UNM took the final singles match for the win.

UNM opened with a sweep of doubles as Sarah O’Connor and Maria Sodre won 6-4 over Daryna Shoshyna and Ava Neyestani for the first half of the point and then Katherine Jhang and Leonie Hoppe won 7-5 at No. 1 over Ana Guadiana and Elinor Beazley.  UNM’s No. 2 pairing of Maud Vandeputte and Hsuan Huang were up 6-5 over Pat Niewadonska and Laura Duhl.

That moved the match to singles, and Vandepuute gave UNM a 2-0 lead  with a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 4 singles, her seventh straight win.  NAU got one back with a win at No. 1 as Sofia Markova won 6-3, 6-0 over O’Connor.  Hsuan Huang picked up a three-set win at 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 to make it 3-1.  UNM had chances twice to end it.  Satoho Toriumi fell in two sets, a long match that went 6-4, 7-6 (9-7) in favor of Beazley of NAU.}

Jhang had a 4-3 lead in the third set of her match, but she got outraced to the finish by Guadiana 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.  That left everything to No. 3 singles and Hoppe and Niewadonska.  The two traded wild sets that both went to tiebreakers.  Hoppe won the opening set, winning 9-7 in a tiebreaker, but it was Niewadonska winning the second in a tiebreaker 7-5.  That pushed it to a third, but it was all Hoppe.  She earned three straight breaks and won t going away 6-0 to give UNM the 4-3 win.

NOTES:  Vandeputte’s win was her team-leading 16th … Hoppe and Jhang won their team-best 12th doubles match together, and Jhang her 16th overall in doubles.