Cougars Ace Crusaders for Region Title

COSTA MESA, Calif. – With its No. 6 NAIA ranking in tow, Azusa Pacific knew that at the very least it had an at-large berth to the upcoming NAIA National Tournament locked up.

Just to be safe, the Cougars went the extra mile Thursday, securing the region's automatic berth with a 5-1 win over Point Loma Nazarene in the NAIA Region II Men's Tennis Tournament.

The win in the Cougars' third over the Crusaders this year.

The Cougars took 2-of-3 doubles' matches with Sam Fletcher/Simon Bieri (9-7) and Benny Lin/Kevin Luu (8-1) picking up wins at No. 1 and 3 respectively.

Azusa Pacific then roared to 3 straight singles' victories to clinch the match. Gordon Hong picked up a win at No. 4 (6-3, 6-2), then Fletcher at No. 2 (6-0, 7-5) put the Cougars within one win of the title. Lin then put the match away with a win over Rodrigo Suarez for the second time in as many weeks at No. 1 (6-1, 6-1).

Lin defeated Suarez to win the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament championship for the second consecutive year last Sunday.

With the win, the Cougars (18-9) wrap up an automatic berth for their fifth straight NAIA Tournament appearance. The 51st Annual NAIA Men's Tennis National Championship is May 13-17, 2002 at the Peachtree City Tennis Center in Peachtree City, Ga.

Azusa Pacific 5, Point Loma Nazarene 1

Doubles
1. Fletcher/Bieri (APU) def. Surez/Markum (PLNU) 8-6
2. Dames/Larimore (PLNU) def. Davidson/Hong (APU) 8-6
3. Lin/Luu (APU) def. Dixon/Combes (PLNU) 8-1

Singles
1. Benny Lin (APU) def Rodrigo Suarez (PLNU) 6-1, 6-1
2. Sam Fletcher (APU) def. Zac Markum (PLNU) 6-1, 7-5
3. Simon Bieri (APU) vs. Matt Larimore (PLNU) DNS
4. Gordon Hong (APU) def. def. Elan Dixon (PLNU) 6-3, 6-2
5. Adam Davidson (APU) vs. Joe Combs (PLNU) 6-4, 4-2 (suspended)
6. Todd Lindblom (APU) vs. Phil Darnes (PLNU) DNS

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