COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The University of North Dakota women's tennis team outlasted Air Force, 4-3, on Friday night from Colorado Springs, Colo.
"This was a great college tennis match tonight between two teams at a very similar level," said UND head tennis coach Tom Bosyen. "The individual matches were so close, and it was difficult for either team to gain much separation."
In a match that lasted 4.5 hours, North Dakota (1-2) rallied from a 3-2 deficit and won the final two matches to claim the 4-3 victory and notch the first win of the season for the Fighting Hawks.
"These are the types of situations that we need to be in early in the season to help us prepare for the intensity of the conference matches in March and April," said Boysen.
NoDak jumped out to a 1-0 lead in doubles action, grabbing victories on the No. 1 and 2 courts. The top pair of
Sapir Sela and
Andrea Jansson kept their strong start to the season going with a 6-2 win before
Jule Schulte and
Nore Heinitz sealed the 1-0 advantage with a 7-5 triumph.
After Air Force knotted the contest at 1-1 on the No. 3 court in singles play, Jansson restored the UND advantage from the second position by a 6-4, 7-6 score, but the Falcons rattled off wins at the No. 1 and 4 spots to take a 3-2 lead and sit just one victory away from a clinch.
Aziza Aubin captured her first win as a Fighting Hawk at the No. 5 spot, battling to a 7-5 win in the first set before cruising by a 6-1 score in the second stanza to tie the match at 3-3 and turn all eyes to the bottom court.
In her first match in nearly two years after working her way back from injury,
Lucia Rizza sealed the victory for UND with a 6-1, 7-5 triumph at the No. 6 position to give the visitors the 4-3 triumph.
"Congratulations to Aziza for winning her first dual match as a Fighting Hawk in a big situation," said Boysen. "And I couldn't be prouder of Lucia for coming through in a high-pressure moment and clinching the team victory in her first match in over 20 months."
North Dakota will look to sweep the weekend with a match at Colorado State on Saturday at 3 p.m. from Fort Collins, Colo.
For more information on North Dakota women's tennis, follow on social media @UNDwtennis or visit FightingHawks.com.
