Women’s Tennis to Host Montana for First Place in Big Sky

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Playing its final match before Spring break, Northern Arizona (6-3, 2-0 BSC) welcomes Montana (4-6, 3-0 BSC) in a battle of undefeated teams in Big Sky conference play. The winner will remain unbeaten in conference and assume first place in the Big Sky, with the match also being a chance for Northern Arizona to extend its home unbeaten streak to 11 consecutive matches. First serve is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday in Flagstaff Athletic Club East.

Lumberjacks in the ITA Rankings

Regional (Mountain)

Doubles
No. 6 - Orsi Golovics and Malia Wahinepio
No. 8 - Aimee Oki and Nicole Perez

Northern Arizona Quick Hits

The Lumberjacks defeated Western New Mexico and Texas-Pan American last weekend and lost to UTEP before having a match with New Mexico State rained out…The Lumberjacks have won five of their last six matches after starting the season 1-2…Freshman Nicole Perez has won five-consecutive matches at No. 5 singles after starting the season 0-4…Junior Yumi Hasegawa has also won five-straight matches playing at No. 6 and is 6-2 for the season…Freshman Malia Wahinepio leads all Lumberjacks with a 7-2 singles record for the season playing at No. 4…Perez and junior Aimee Oki lead the way in doubles with a 6-2 record at No. 2…Sacramento State is the only other Big Sky team with an overall winning record (8-3), though the Hornets have yet to play a Big Sky match…Eastern Washington is also undefeated in conference (2-0) but does not play again until March 12.

Scouting Montana

The Grizzlies are 4-6 overall but 3-0 in the Big Sky with wins over Portland State, Weber State and Idaho State. Montana and Northern Arizona have played one common opponent this season, Colorado State, with both teams losing to the Rams in Fort Collins (NAU lost 5-2, Montana lost 4-3). The Grizzlies likely will be without their top player, junior Rebecca Bran, who has been injured and replaced at No. 1 singles by her twin-sister Amanda. Rebecca is the only Grizzly with a winning singles record for the season (3-2), though the team is an impressive 13-5 in singles matches in conference play and 7-2 in conference-doubles matches.

Northern Arizona beat Montana twice last season, recording a 6-1 neutral-site win in Bozeman during the regular season and a 4-0 victory in the Big Sky Championship quarterfinals. NAU has dominated the all-time serious with the Grizzlies, holding a 16-2 career record against their conference-foe.