LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Azusa Pacific fall season came to a close today with something not seen in the illustrious history of Cougar tennis. Even though the program has won four national titles, competed for two additional team titles, Oliver Frank accomplished a first for any individual to don a Cougar uniform.
Frank won the UTSA Southern California Intercollegiate Tennis Championship on Monday afternoon with a 6-3, 6-4 win against USC's Brandon Holt. What makes this title unique is that Frank went through the 32-person main draw by beating NCAA Division I foes.
"This tournament win means a lot to me. To play against NCAA Division I level players and win is special. The competition here was just a different level. You have to be focused and concentrate more on all the details," Frank said. "I was able to get the momentum early and keep it throughout the tournament. To play as an underdog here was good for my game. I was just able to play my game point-by-point."
He started the event on Friday by beating David Goulak (UC Davis) 6-3, 1-6, 6-4. Last season Goulak was named the Big West Conference Freshman of the Year.
Another three-set match was in the cards for Frank as he beat the first of four seeded players in the round of 16. The native of Neimarkt, Germany knocked off Jake DeVine (USC) 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals. Frank battled through another three-set match, as well as the tournament's No. 2 seed, Laurens Verboven (USC). He notched a 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 win as he advanced to the semifinals.
Facing his third opponent from USC, Frank topped Logan Smith 6-1, 1-6, 6-0 to advance to the championship match. In defeating Holt for the title he beat the Trojans No. 1 and 19th ranked player in the nation.
Also playing in the main singles draw was Antonio Pejic. He worked his way through the qualifying rounds to earn a spot in the field of 32. Pejic drew Sebastain Heim, the No. 1 player from UC Irvine, and fell in straight set 6-3, 6-4.
There were only three non-NCAA Division I players in the main singles draw with Eric Tseng, from UC San Diego, the other player.
In the doubles portion of the event, Azusa Pacific was the only NCAA Division II program to put teams in the 16-team field. Frank and Christian Schmid won their opening match against Cartier Juan and Ethan Prost from Loyola Marymont 8-2 before falling to Devine and Smith 8-5 in the quarterfinals.
Pejic partnered with Marnix Pluim but the tandem fell 8-6 to Mitchel Iwahiro and Jonathan Star (UC Davis) in the first round.
