The last time NAU’s tennis teams played at home, Flagstaff was experiencing one of the largest snowstorms in the town’s history; but one month later, both the men’s and women’s squads finally returned to their home court this past weekend to defeat Grand Canyon University (GCU) and Montana State (MSU).

The women started the weekend by beating the MSU Bobcats 6-1 Feb. 19, sweeping doubles and taking five singles matches in less than three hours. The Lumberjacks won the doubles matches by scores of 8-3 and 8-5.

Freshman Kevin Taylor finishes up his match against Grand Canyon University Feb. 21 at Flagstaff Athletic Club East. Matt Beaty / The Lumberjack

“We’re feeling good, and we haven’t had any wear or tear [despite] all the away games and traveling,” said head coach Kim Bruno. “We had a lot of success early on, and we managed to press on and keep the upper hand against them.”

Juniors Orsi Golovics, Edit Suhadja and Yumi Hasegawa led the singles matches. Each member of the trio won in two sets by victories of 6-2, 6-3; 6-0, 6-3; and 6-1, 6-0.

On Feb. 21, the Lady Jacks defeated the GCU Antelopes 7-0, improving to 4-2 on the season. NAU handled the Antelopes quicker than the Bobcats, with Hasegawa leading the way with her perfect set (6-0, 6-0) in a speedy 27 minutes and 2 seconds.

“That was probably the fastest singles match we’ve had this season,” Bruno said. “It was great to do it here at home in front of friends and fans. We have a good record, and we’ll continue to push the envelope going forward.”

Hasegawa said the match was one of her career highlights.

“I never pay too much attention to my match time, but it was probably one of the better matches I’ve had here at the college level,” Hasegawa said. “We have a huge home-court advantage because our playing surface is different from the others. It affects the balls a little differently, and other teams aren’t used to it.”

All singles matches were also won in two sets, with another perfect 6-0, 6-0 by junior Aimee Oki and a 6-1, 6-0 victory by freshman Malia Wahinepio. The Lumberjacks took doubles with scores of 8-0, 8-0 and 8-1.

The men’s team also had a perfect 7-0 win as they battled GCU. It was their second consecutive victory of 7-0 in the past two weeks, and doubles were won in dominating fashion. Junior David Flodberg and freshman Kevin Taylor took their singles with perfect 6-0, 6-0 scores, while sophomore Robin Pezzutto and freshman Hugo Ramadier won in sets of 6-0, 6-2 and 6-1, 6-1.

“Our opponent wasn’t as good as some we’ve faced this year,” said assistant coach Rich Paulosky. “Our home-court advantage is hard to beat because we were putting a lot of bagels [zeros] up there. You can tell these guys are focused and playing sharp out there.”

NAU took the doubles with scores of 8-0, 8-4 and 8-3 to improve to 6-2, while GCU fell to 1-5.

From Feb. 25 to 28, NAU’s men and women begin a stretch of four matches in as many days. The men travel to Las Cruces, N.M. to face Texas-Pan American, Texas-Arlington, New Mexico State and Idaho. The women play Western New Mexico, UTEP, Texas-Pan American and New Mexico State.