Women’s Tennis to Host Montana State in Home Opener Friday
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – After spending the first-three weeks of
the season on the road, Northern Arizona (2-2, 1-0 Big Sky) returns
home to host Montana State in a Big Sky match on Friday at 1 p.m.
and Grand Canyon on Sunday at 2 p.m. Admission is free for both
matches at Flagstaff Athletic Club East.
Lumberjacks in the ITA Rankings
Regional (Mountain):
Singles:
No. 19 – Orsi Golovics
Doubles:
No. 5 – Orsi Golovics and Malia Wahinepio
Northern Arizona Quick Hits
NAU plays at home for the first time in 2010 on Friday, hosting its
first of three Big Sky home matches…The Lumberjacks went 6-0
at home in 2009…Sunday’s match against Grand Canyon
will follow a men’s tennis match between the same
schools…Freshman Malia Wahinepio was named Big Sky Player of
the Week after going 2-0 in singles and 1-1 in doubles in two
matches last week…The award was the first for Wahinepio and
the second for NAU this season (Orsi Golovics, Jan.
27)…Wahinepio has a team-best 3-1 singles record playing at
No. 4 and is 2-2 with Golovics at No. 1 doubles…2009 Big Sky
First-Team selection Edit Suhajda played her first match at No. 2
last Sunday against Northern Colorado, earning a win…Suhajda
and junior Yumi Hasegawa have won their last-two matches at No. 3
doubles.
Scouting Montana State
The Bobcats come to Flagstaff with a 2-4 record and have yet to
play a Big Sky match. Montana State has wins over NAIA school
Lewis-Clark State and UMKC, with their only home match a 7-0 loss
to No. 34 Boise State on January 23. They don’t play another
home match until March 21, playing their first-four Big Sky matches
away from Bozeman. The Bobcats have used three different players at
No. 1 singles, with senior Ali Griffin playing four times in the
top spot (1-3). MSU has totaled an 11-25 singles record this season
while going just 6-12 in doubles with nine different doubles pairs
through six matches.
Montana State tied for third in the preseason Big Sky coaches poll,
finishing just behind Northern Arizona in the voting. The
Lumberjacks are 14-11 all-time against Montana State, including a
4-1 win in the Big Sky championship semifinals last year after
falling to the Bobcats in Bozeman during the 2009 regular
season.
Scouting Grand Canyon
The Antelopes of Division-II have played six matches this year but
have only reported results in three of them (1-2 record). They were
ranked No. 49 in the first, and only, ITA Division-II national poll
of the season, released on November 6, 2009. Their only reported
win was a 9-0 victory over Whittier College in Los Angeles. Grand
Canyon hosted five matches last week, including three tilts against
conference mates in the Pacific West. Northern Arizona will be
their first Division-I opponent of the season. Junior Cecelia
Vergnet plays at No. 1 singles for the Antelopes and has a 5-1
record for the season.
Surprisingly, Northern Arizona is just 13-20 all-time against Grand
Canyon. The teams have not met, however, since a 6-1 NAU victory in
Phoenix in 2001.
