Eagles suffer road loss in Northern Arizona

FLAGSTAFF, AZ — Eastern Washington women's (8-7) tennis suffered a conference loss on the road Saturday 6-1 to Northern Arizona, according to EWU Athletics. Despite the loss, Head Coach Dustin Hinson felt good about how his players competed, he said in the statement.  

“It's always tough to play in Flagstaff with the altitude, but I thought we did a really good job focusing on giving our best, start-to-finish in the match,” Hinson said. “It didn't matter what happened in the previous point or what was happening in the match; we were going to fight all the way through, and the team did an excellent job in that area. We stayed focused in the moment and in battle, so that's going to help us as we continue with our conference schedule.” 

The 'Jacks set the tone in doubles, winning No. 2 and No. 3, both 6-1, to clinch the point and take the early lead. According to NAU Athletics, the doubles pair of Noguera and Niewiadomska won their third straight, as the Jacks took the doubles point with a pair of breadsticks, multiple victories 6-1, from courts two and three. 

NAU used commanding wins at No. 2 and 3 singles to move within one point of clinching the match. A victory at No. 5 singles gave the 'Jacks the win, and they would add two more singles wins to pad the score.  

Leontina Stojanovic got back into the win column and clinched the match for NAU with a 6-2, 6-2 win on court five, while Natalie Rainke collected the first double bagel of her collegiate career on court three. 

Patrycja Niewiadomska won her fourth straight, improving her singles record to 8-2 on the season with a win in straight sets on court one, chewing out the second set with a 10-3 tiebreaker win. 

Elen Jantacova continued the Jacks' recent trend of snapping opponent win streaks, as she ended Olivia Marais' eight-match win streak on court four with a 6-3, 6-3 win. Andrea Noguera evened her overall record on the season to 5-5, taking her third straight win on court two, 6-0, 6-2. 

Aneliss Zamfirescu helped Eastern avoid the sweep, winning at No. 6 singles against Mia Wolter. The freshman earned a two-set win (7-6) (7-3), (6-3), her second conference singles win of the season and seventh overall.  

“The bright spot, as far as results, was Aneliss at No. 6. She did a great job to be able to get the match win today,” Hinson described. “Everybody on the team just battled and fought, regardless of what the score was in both close games and close points. I really thought this was the best we've competed here in a long time. I'm proud of the team for their fight, effort, energy, and for continuing to focus on building our strengths and working on our weaknesses to get better. I'm excited for the upcoming battle against Portland State and our other road matches.” 

Results
Singles 

Patryc Niewiadomska (NAU) def. Leandra Nizetic (EWU) 6-4, 7-6 (10-3) 

Andrea Noguera (NAU) def. Anait Arutiunian (EWU) 6-0, 6-2 

Natalie Rainke (NAU) def. Zoe Pradel (EWU) 6-0, 6-0 

Elen Jantacova (NAU) def. Olivia Marais (EWU) 6-3, 6-3 

Leontina Stojanovic (NAU) def. Veronika Gayevyk (EWU) 6-2, 6-2 

Aneliss Zamfirescu (EWU) def. Mia Wolter (NAU) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 

Doubles 

Elen Jantacova / Natalie Rainke (NAU) def. Zoe Pradel / Olivia Marais (EWU) 4-3 unfinished 

Patryc Niewiadomska / ANdrea Nguera (NAU) def. Anait Arutiunian / Sara Vasic (EWU) 6-1 

Leontina Stojanovich / Mia Wolter (NAU) def. Leandra Nizetic / Maria Lopez (EWU) 6-1