Women’s Tennis Advances to Big Sky Semifinals

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Northern Arizona women’s tennis topped Montana 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Championships at the Gold River Racquet Club on Friday. The women will play No. 2 seed Montana State on Saturday, April 25 at 2 p.m.

“We came out and played real well today,” said director of tennis Kim Bruno. “The girls came out and dominated and took care of business. I’m glad we got that win under our belt. It is going to be a tough match tomorrow but I think we are ready.”

NAU (12-9, 6-2 BSC) jumped out to a 1-0 lead after taking the doubles point 2-1.

Stacey Pinchbeck and Yumi Hasegawa defeated Montana’s Rebecca Bran and Cara Lehman (8-4) at No. 3 doubles. The Grizzlies pulled even with a win at No. 1, but Kim Van Ginkel and Leslie Vial answered with an 8-4 point-clinching win at No. 2 over Amanda Bran and Lauren Gibson at No. 2.

The Lumberjacks posted three singles wins over Montana (8-13, 4-4 BSC) to secure the 4-0 win.

Hasegawa bested Gibson 6-2, 6-0 at No. 6 singles while Van Ginkel out-dualed Amanda Bran at No. 3 (6-2, 6-1). Pinchbeck ended the match defeating Kayla Moyse 6-4, 6-0 at No. 5.

The Lumberjacks moved to 2-0 against Montana on the 2009 season. The women topped the Grizzlies (6-1) on April 11.

Big Sky Championship - Quarterfinals
Match 21: NAU 4, Montana 0
Apr 24, 2009 at Sacramento, Calif.
(Gold River Racquet Club)

Singles competition
1. SUHAJDA, Edit (NAU) vs. WALKER, Liz (UM) 6-4, 4-0, unfinished
2. GOLOVICS, Orsi (NAU) vs. BRAN, Rebecca (UM) 6-3, 2-3, unfinished
3. VAN GINKEL, Kim (NAU) def. BRAN, Amanda (UM) 6-2, 6-1
4. VIAL, Leslie (NAU) vs. NOWAK, Martyna (UM) 6-0, 5-2, unfinished
5. PINCHBECK, Stacey (NAU) def. MOYSE, Kayla (UM) 6-4, 6-0
6. HASEGAWA, Yumi (NAU) def. GIBSON, Lauren (UM) 6-2, 6-0

Doubles competition
1. WALKER, Liz/NOWAK, Martyna (UM) def. SUHAJDA, Edit/GOLOVICS, Orsi (NAU) 8-5
2. VAN GINKEL, Kim/VIAL, Leslie (NAU) def. BRAN, Amanda/GIBSON, Lauren (UM) 8-4
3. PINCHBECK, Stacey/HASEGAWA, Yumi (NAU) def. BRAN, Rebecca/LEHMAN, Cara (UM) 8-4

Match Notes:
Montana 8-13, 4-4 BSC
Northern Arizona 12-9, 6-2 BSC
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,3,5)