University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Sunday, April 1
Flagstaff, Ariz.
10:00 am
University of Northern Colorado
1
at
6
Northern Arizona
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
Recap: @UNCO_WTennis Uprooted by Lumberjacks
4/1/2018 6:19:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Tristen Bryant-Otake Wins in Singles for Northern Colorado
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.- The Bears deployed a new team strategy Sunday afternoon but lost against Northern Arizona in Flagstaff 6-1 at NAU Tennis Center. The Lumberjacks swept doubles and in singles, Tristen Bryant-Otake was the only winner for UNC at the No. 3 position.
"Northern Arizona has historically always been a strong team," said Bears head coach Brenda Gallegos. "Our mindset and our approach had to be a little bit different than in our previous matches. Everyone on this team has a role and something they need to bring to the table. In order for us to be successful, everyone needs to show up on the same day to compete and play hard and although we lost, I felt we did that today."
The Bears did have chances to win in other singles spots. No. 1 Raffa Mora took her opponent, Hanneke Ladewijks to a tiebreaker for the third set but fell 4-6, 6-3, 10-6. No. 6 Mana Koitabashi also fell in a third set tiebreaker to Worthy Goldman 7-5, 4-6, 10-4 but Northern Arizona showed why they have been the conference's best team.
"The fact that we are such a new and young team, it was nice to see the girls start to turn a corner," said Gallegos. "We are seeing more progress match by match, which is being proven point-by-point during our matches. The bottom line is we are making progress. It was great to see the girls coming together and really competing as a team."
In addition to the concerted effort to improve mental aspects of their game, Gallegos also changed things up by putting players in new positions in the lineup to keep the Lumberjacks off-balance.
"The girls did their best with the changes and even proved that a new look might have been just the thing they needed to start turning the corner."
The Bears (4-10, 1-6 Big Sky) are on the road for their next three duels. Their next contest against a Big Sky opponent is Apr. 7 against North Dakota in Grand Forks. With the win Sunday, Northern Arizona (13-3, 8-0 Big Sky) extended their current win streak to five straight matches. They will play at Utah State next on Apr. 6.
Scores-
Doubles
1 - (NAU) Millard/Lodewijks def. (UNC) Bryant-Otake/Mora 6-1
2 - (NAU) Tomasetti/Moore def. (UNC) Doherty/Battersby 6-1
3 - (NAU) Granville/Von Dungern def. (UNC) Blanchard/Chhabra 6-3
Singles
1 - (NAU) Hanneke Ladewijks def. (UNC) Raffa Mora 4-6, 6-3, 10-6
2 - (NAU) Chiara Tomasetti def. (UNC) Anna Battersby 6-0, 6-0
3 - (UNC) Tristen Bryant-Otake def. (NAU) CoraLynn Von Dungern 7-6, 6-4
4 - (NAU) Ellie Millard def. (UNC) Madeline Doherty 6-0, 6-1
5 - (NAU) Madi Moore def. (UNC) Sarina Chhabra 6-1, 6-1
6 - (NAU) Worthy Goldman def. (UNC) Mana Koitabashi 7-5, 4-6, 10-4
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,4,5,1,3,6)
DOUBLES HIGHLIGHTS:
No. 2 - As a new pair, Battersby and Doherty complemented each other well and had good chemistry despite the 1-6 loss. They proved that they could be a solid doubles duo by not ever giving up. They fought hard to win every point. Throughout the match, communication was key to their success in points as well as gaining the edge with their serves.
No. 3 - As another new duo, Sarina Chhabra and Carrigan Blanchard started off strong in their doubles match, coming up to the net, and trying to finish points before their opponents. In their first match together, their energy was good and even though they found themselves down 2-3, they stayed positive in hopes of turning the match around. Net play was an advantage for the Bears throughout the match but was underutilized against the very aggressive NAU team.
SINGLES HIGHLIGHTS:
No. 1 - Continuing a streak of great play, Raffa Mora continued played well again Sunday. She was strong, patient, consistent, and was able to get inside her opponents head by being loud and energetic whenever she won a point. Though the first set was tight, Mora was able to hold serve at 5-4 and close it out 6-4. In the second set, Mora's forehand stayed strong as she hit many forehand winners. The set did not go her way and she lost it 3-6. To decide the match, Mora and her opponent played a 10-pt tiebreaker, which Mora lost. Despite this, it was one of her best matches of the season.
No. 3 - Playing at 3 singles Sunday, Tristen Bryant-Otake played one of her most consistent matches yet and played at a great energy level. Her two handed forehand was a major strength and she executed her game plan perfectly. Pushing her opponent back behind the baseline, Bryant-Otake was able to open up the court and use good footwork to hit forehand angles a majority of the time. She was in control for much of the match and she persevered to win in straight sets, 7-6, 6-4.
No. 6 - Mana Koitabashi played an impressive match Sunday. Her opponent, Worthy Goldman struck the ball with incredible pace, but Koitabashi was determined to play long rallies and force Goldman to miss. Despite going down 2-5, Koitabashi fought even harder and came back to tie it 5-5, before losing the first set 5-7. Without changing her level of determination, Koitabashi continued to fight for every point, by stayed in rallies and moved her opponent side to side, to win the set 6-4. Koitabashi remained intensely motivated in the tiebreaker, but fell short losing it 5-10.
"Northern Arizona has historically always been a strong team," said Bears head coach Brenda Gallegos. "Our mindset and our approach had to be a little bit different than in our previous matches. Everyone on this team has a role and something they need to bring to the table. In order for us to be successful, everyone needs to show up on the same day to compete and play hard and although we lost, I felt we did that today."
The Bears did have chances to win in other singles spots. No. 1 Raffa Mora took her opponent, Hanneke Ladewijks to a tiebreaker for the third set but fell 4-6, 6-3, 10-6. No. 6 Mana Koitabashi also fell in a third set tiebreaker to Worthy Goldman 7-5, 4-6, 10-4 but Northern Arizona showed why they have been the conference's best team.
"The fact that we are such a new and young team, it was nice to see the girls start to turn a corner," said Gallegos. "We are seeing more progress match by match, which is being proven point-by-point during our matches. The bottom line is we are making progress. It was great to see the girls coming together and really competing as a team."
In addition to the concerted effort to improve mental aspects of their game, Gallegos also changed things up by putting players in new positions in the lineup to keep the Lumberjacks off-balance.
"The girls did their best with the changes and even proved that a new look might have been just the thing they needed to start turning the corner."
The Bears (4-10, 1-6 Big Sky) are on the road for their next three duels. Their next contest against a Big Sky opponent is Apr. 7 against North Dakota in Grand Forks. With the win Sunday, Northern Arizona (13-3, 8-0 Big Sky) extended their current win streak to five straight matches. They will play at Utah State next on Apr. 6.
Scores-
Doubles
1 - (NAU) Millard/Lodewijks def. (UNC) Bryant-Otake/Mora 6-1
2 - (NAU) Tomasetti/Moore def. (UNC) Doherty/Battersby 6-1
3 - (NAU) Granville/Von Dungern def. (UNC) Blanchard/Chhabra 6-3
Singles
1 - (NAU) Hanneke Ladewijks def. (UNC) Raffa Mora 4-6, 6-3, 10-6
2 - (NAU) Chiara Tomasetti def. (UNC) Anna Battersby 6-0, 6-0
3 - (UNC) Tristen Bryant-Otake def. (NAU) CoraLynn Von Dungern 7-6, 6-4
4 - (NAU) Ellie Millard def. (UNC) Madeline Doherty 6-0, 6-1
5 - (NAU) Madi Moore def. (UNC) Sarina Chhabra 6-1, 6-1
6 - (NAU) Worthy Goldman def. (UNC) Mana Koitabashi 7-5, 4-6, 10-4
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,4,5,1,3,6)
DOUBLES HIGHLIGHTS:
No. 2 - As a new pair, Battersby and Doherty complemented each other well and had good chemistry despite the 1-6 loss. They proved that they could be a solid doubles duo by not ever giving up. They fought hard to win every point. Throughout the match, communication was key to their success in points as well as gaining the edge with their serves.
No. 3 - As another new duo, Sarina Chhabra and Carrigan Blanchard started off strong in their doubles match, coming up to the net, and trying to finish points before their opponents. In their first match together, their energy was good and even though they found themselves down 2-3, they stayed positive in hopes of turning the match around. Net play was an advantage for the Bears throughout the match but was underutilized against the very aggressive NAU team.
SINGLES HIGHLIGHTS:
No. 1 - Continuing a streak of great play, Raffa Mora continued played well again Sunday. She was strong, patient, consistent, and was able to get inside her opponents head by being loud and energetic whenever she won a point. Though the first set was tight, Mora was able to hold serve at 5-4 and close it out 6-4. In the second set, Mora's forehand stayed strong as she hit many forehand winners. The set did not go her way and she lost it 3-6. To decide the match, Mora and her opponent played a 10-pt tiebreaker, which Mora lost. Despite this, it was one of her best matches of the season.
No. 3 - Playing at 3 singles Sunday, Tristen Bryant-Otake played one of her most consistent matches yet and played at a great energy level. Her two handed forehand was a major strength and she executed her game plan perfectly. Pushing her opponent back behind the baseline, Bryant-Otake was able to open up the court and use good footwork to hit forehand angles a majority of the time. She was in control for much of the match and she persevered to win in straight sets, 7-6, 6-4.
No. 6 - Mana Koitabashi played an impressive match Sunday. Her opponent, Worthy Goldman struck the ball with incredible pace, but Koitabashi was determined to play long rallies and force Goldman to miss. Despite going down 2-5, Koitabashi fought even harder and came back to tie it 5-5, before losing the first set 5-7. Without changing her level of determination, Koitabashi continued to fight for every point, by stayed in rallies and moved her opponent side to side, to win the set 6-4. Koitabashi remained intensely motivated in the tiebreaker, but fell short losing it 5-10.
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