It was a bittersweet moment for NAU this past weekend as the men’s tennis team season ended, and the women’s team won to keep their season alive.

NAU traveled to Sacramento, Calif., at the Gold River Racquet Club to play in the Big Sky Conference Championships.

The NAU women’s team came out on top against Montana 4-0 in the quarterfinals and advanced to play No. 2 seed Montana State on Saturday, April 25.

The Lumberjacks dominated the singles competition with three wins over Montana (8-13, 4-4). NAU was led by sophomores Yumi Hasegawa, Kim Van Ginkel and senior Stacey Pinchbeck. Hasegawa beat Montana’s Gibson 6-2, 6-0 at the No. 6, Van Ginkel defeated Amanda Bran 6-2, 6-1, and Pinchbeck overcame Kayla Moyse 6-4, 6-0.

NAU freshman Robin Pezzutto hits a return against Eastern Washington on April 14 at the Flagstaff Athletic Club East. The men’s tennis team exited out of the Big Sky Tournament in the quarterfinals, while the women reached the finals. - Ryan Kennedy/ The Lumberjack

On Saturday, NAU women’s team defeated Montana State 4-1 to advance to the Big Sky Conference Championship game for a repeat of last year’s final to play No. 1 Sacramento State (18-8, 8-0).

NAU was unable to gain the doubles point, as they dropped two of the three matches. The Lumberjacks then went on to win four consecutive singles matches to clinch their fourth-straight final appearance.

NAU sophomore Edit Suhajda defeated Bears No. 1 Stephanie Jasper 6-2, 6-4. Van Ginkel was able to put away Montana State’s Laura Villegas with a 6-4, 6-3 win. NAU was up 2-1 when senior Leslie Vial beat Ali Griffen in a 6-2, 6-2 match. Hasegawa was able to clinch the victory for NAU downing No. 6 Andrea De La Torre 6-4, 6-4.

However, the Jacks fell to Sac State in the final 4-0. The Hornets won the first two doubles matches to pick up the point there, then claimed a win in the first three singles matches to clinch the championship.

The men’s season ended on Friday against Montana in a 4-2 match. The Lumberjacks opened up doubles play with freshman duo of Andrew Reiff and Robin Pezzutto, who faced off against Montana’s Felipe Raw and Raydner Ramos. Reiff and Pezzutto battled to win the match 8-5.

The next match featured the upperclassmen combo of senior Chris Arena and junior Jaco Visagie, who pulled out a victory 8-6.

NAU wasn’t so lucky in the singles competition, as they were only able to pull out one win out of the five matches.

The men’s team finished their season 7-18 overall and 5-3 in Big Sky Conference play.