Maya Hall

April 30, 2019

Northern Arizona University’s women’s and men’s tennis teams are headed to the NCAA Tournament after winning the Big Sky championship. For the women, it’s the second time in program history after a 4-0 victory against Idaho in the Big Sky Championship match—one that made up for three years of losing in the championship to the same opponent.

The men, whose NCAA appearance begins Friday in Los Angeles against the University of Southern California, are hoping to extend their win streak of 19 matches that began March 2.

Women’s tennis

“I’m absolutely proud of every one of the ladies, not only today, because they worked for this the entire season,” head coach Ewa Bogusz said. “They didn’t take days off, they came back from tough losses and worked even harder. Their willpower and work ethic are what got them the title.”

Junior Chiara Tomasetti and Idaho’s Marianna Petrei squared off in the headlining match. Petrei, three-time Big Sky Most Valuable Player, had a 47-0 career record against conference opponents; Tomasetti’s only loss this season came at the hands of Petrei.

With NAU leading the match 3-0, the Lumberjacks’ captain delivered and Petrei’s final shot of her career sailed long.

“We knew this was Chiara’s last chance to beat her,” Bogusz said. “Chiara is our team captain, and she deserves this win more than ever. Petrei was such a consistent player over her four years and that win just goes to show what Chiara has in her pocket.”

Tomasetti’s 6-1, 6-2 championship-clincher capped a dominating performance by the Lumberjacks at the Phoenix Tennis Center. NAU earned the doubles point and proceeded to pick up the necessary three singles victories in convincing fashion.

Sophomore Madi Moore and freshman Emilie Haakansson put the Lumberjacks on the board first with their 6-2 win at No. 3 doubles over Laura Spataro and Maggie Chen. The two teams split the first two completed doubles matches with senior Hanneke Lodewijks and sophomore Ellie Millard blanking Anna Stefani and Marta Magalhaes, 6-0, at No. 2.

Millard made quick work, 6-1, 6-0, of Spataro at No. 3 singles to lift NAU to a 2-0 advantage. Haakansson followed by defeating Magalhaes, 6-0, 6-3, at No. 5 to put the Lumberjacks within a point of the title, which Tomasetti would secure at No. 1.

“We had a tough season and didn’t have the best start, but we won today in the most important match so I’m super proud of the whole team,” Tomasetti said. “We’ve been through a lot with Idaho—for me the last two years and for some the last three years—but winning this tournament is what we wanted and winning it against them is the cherry on top.”

Lodewijks was close to picking up a win at No. 2 as she led Maria Tavares, 6-3, 5-2, when Tomasetti clinched the match. Moore was ahead a set at No. 6, and freshman Adrianna Sosnowska was locked in a three-set match at No. 3.

“Everyone played their best tennis this tournament,” Lodewijks said. “Everyone fought really hard and for each other. After we lost to Sac State, we knew we needed to work even harder to turn our season around. I’m very happy to end my career at NAU like this.”

The Lumberjacks will head west to face their first round matchup against No.7 national seed UCLA on May 4 at noon in Los Angeles. The two teams will be joined by San Diego and LSU, winners meeting in the second round on May 5.

Men’s tennis

Although NAU is the lowest seed of the four schools (USC, San Diego and Minnesota) in its bracket, it is entering the tournament on a hot streak.  This program record started on March 2, against conference foe Southern Utah.  Overall, the Lumberjacks are 22-6 on the season and went a perfect 10-0 in the Big Sky to win the regular season Championship. In the Big Sky tournament, the ‘Jacks were won their semifinal match against Idaho State and their final match against Portland State 4-0.

In singles, the name to remember for the Lumberjacks, is their No. 1 player Tim Handel.  He’s gone 21-1 on the season. Following the senior in wins on the team is freshman Facundo Tumosa with 18, while fellow senior Ruben Montano has 17 on the season.  Tumosa plays at the No. 3 position for the team, while Montano plays at the No. 5 position.

In doubles, the ‘Jacks have had a strong season up to this point as the team has a .73 winning percentage in doubles on the season.  NAU’s top duo is Tom Fisher and Chris Steele, who have 17 wins on the season. The tandem has played a majority of its matches at the No. 3 position.  Trailing the No. 3 doubles team in wins are the No. 1 pair and No. 3 pair, with 16 wins each.  The No. 1 tandem is made up of Handel and Montano, and the No. 3 tandem is made up of Lucas Taylor and Tumosa.

USC will be entering the matchup as the host school of the region, as the Trojans went 20-7 on the season.  Similar to Northern Arizona, Southern Cal. will be entering the NCAA Tournament on a hot streak as the team has won its last seven matches, including the PAC-12 Championship over the University of California.

May 1, 2019

Northern Arizona University’s School of Music is celebrating both spring and the newly-constructed Michael and Karen Kitt Recital Hall during a Chamber Orchestra concert featuring faculty soloists at 3 p.m. on May 5.

School of Music Associate Professor Daniel O’Bryant will direct NAU Music faculty Emily Hoppe, Louise Scott and Rita Borden in a rendition of Bach’s “Brandenburg Concerto No. 5”. Other performances include Cris Inguanti with Copland’s “Clarinet Concerto” and Heidi Hernandez performing “Debussy Dances Sacred and Profane” on harp. Assistant conductors include graduate students Addison Mauro and Ell Sunman Lee.

The Kitt Recital Hall was built with great sound in mind, designed to be filled with an “acoustical warmth. The concert is sponsored in part by a donation from Michael and Karen Kitt.

Admission to the Chamber Orchestra concert is $15 for adults and $10 for seniors, NAU faculty and staff. The concert is free for NAU students with ID and children under 17. Tickets can be purchased online or by phone at (928) 523-5661. Tickets purchased at the door will be charged a $2 CTO fee.

April 24, 2019

On election day, what prevents you from casting your ballot? Whether it is getting time off work, arranging transportation to the polling place or ensuring that one’s vote-by-mail ballot is received in time, every voting citizen must negotiate certain obstacles to participate in our democracy. How does a citizen’s ability to participate in elections change if one lives every day with disabilities that impact their lives?

With a grant from the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council (ADDPC), the Institute for Human Development (IHD) at Northern Arizona University is answering some of those questions. The team will conduct a yearlong, statewide research project identifying barriers to voting for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Arizona.

Driven by the lack of published research and inspired by preliminary data from ADDPC, IHD will conduct interviews with persons with disabilities, their families and service providers to learn what obstacles prevent election participation.

“Much of the past research in this area has focused only on legal perspectives and very little information is available from the perspective of individuals with disabilities,” project director Arden Day said. “We want to know—are Arizona’s polling sites accessible to people with disabilities? Can they understand the language on the ballot? Do they need assistance from a care provider to vote?”

A planning team consisting of partners from agencies and organizations serving persons with disabilities from across the state will provide valuable input to the researchers.

“We assembled the planning team to ensure that we ask the right questions to understand how voters and potential voters with disabilities experience and engage with the voting process,” project investigator Kelly Roberts said. “We expect that voters with disabilities must
contend with and overcome impediments not experienced by most people.”

IHD is home to a wide range of interdisciplinary programs, efforts that support its mission of facilitating ongoing improvements in access, attitude and inclusion for people with disabilities. IHD, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, is one of the nation’s premier centers focused on promoting full inclusion by advancing attitudes that value persons with disabilities and enhancing access to all aspects of the human experience. IHD is a dynamic, multi-faceted environment staffed with faculty and professionals representing a range of human service disciplines and offering a broad spectrum of resources and programs for both NAU students and members of the community.

For more information on the project and to see how you may get involved, contact Arden Day or Kelly Roberts.