AZUSA, Calif.-- The NAIA's No. 4-ranked Azusa Pacific took awhile to get warmed up in its inaugural match at the Munson and Bavougian Tennis Complex, but freshmen Natalie McNall and Emily Ignas posted come-from-behind wins to lift the Cougars to a 5-4 win over No. 8-ranked Point Loma Nazarene in the first-ever women's tennis match held on the campus of Azusa Pacific.

"Our new tennis facility helps motivate us to take our game to the next level," Cougar head coach Mark Bohren said. "It was a great atmosphere here today with a lot of people in attendance. As the season progresses, I think we're going to end up having a huge home-court advantage."

Point Loma Nazarene dominated the early doubles play, posting an 8-0 sweep at No. 1 over Katy Jelsma and Casey Wetzig, in addition to taking a 5-0 lead and an eventual 8-5 win at No. 2 doubles over Sheryl Bon and Marie Tanaka. Ignas and McNall trailed by a 4-1 margin at No. 3, but the freshman tandem collected 7 of the final 8 games for an 8-5 victory over the Sea Lions' Isabella Tumini and Samantha Mohr. They took advantage of 2 double faults on Point Loma Nazarene's final service to take a 7-5 lead, and the Cougars clinched the doubles match when a Sea Lions volley went into the net on the Cougars' match point.

"We started out playing too fast to the pace of the ball," Ignas said. "As baseliners, we were trying to get a nice rhythm. Coach told us to stand back and wait for their consistencies, and we also wanted to make sure we were consistent the rest of the way by getting all our serves in."

For the first time this season, Azusa Pacific trailed heading into singles play, but the Cougars took 4 of the 6 singles matches for the 5-4 dual match win. A pair of straight set wins at No. 2 and No. 3 allowed Azusa Pacific to quickly turn the initial deficit into a 3-2 lead, but the Sea Lions' Kristin Strimple came up with the 6-4, 6-3 result at No. 1 over Sheryl Bon, who provided the clinching point of yesterday's 5-4 win at California Baptist in a brutal 3-set marathon, to tie the team scores at 3-3.

Shortly after Bon's match had concluded, McNall was on the verge of making an incredible comeback at No. 4 singles to complement the one she had already pulled off in doubles. She dropped the opening set, 6-2, before edging Rachel Owens in the second set, 7-6. After falling behind in set 3, 5-2, she regained the momentum thanks in part to the vocal support of the home-court crowd.

"At first, I was thinking the outcome didn't really matter at that point, because my opponent only needed 4 points to win," McNall said. "That's when I heard Casey (Wetzig) and my other teammates rooting for me, even though the match felt like it was over. Hearing them in the background, thinking I still had a chance, helped me fight harder through the intensity."

McNall methodically worked the gap down to 5-4 after winning both games on the changeover. The next game provided the freshman's final swing of momentum to finish the match. After falling behind by a point at 30-15, she and Owens battled in a long rally that ended when McNall unleashed a backhand winner to the back right corner past Owens for a 30-30 tie. McNall won 3 of the next 4 points to win the game and tie the set at 5-5, and she took 8 of the final 11 points to claim the set, 7-5, and the match win that gave Azusa Pacific a 4-3 lead with 2 singles matches remaining.

"It felt awesome to get this victory for the team," McNall said. "When one person pulls through a tough match, it's a message to the other teammates to keep from worrying about their own results. It's so much more relaxing and comforting to know your teammates have you to rely on. It's the best feeling in the world."

Sophomore transfer Tanaka, from the University of Hawaii, got the fifth and clinching team point, a 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) victory over Taryn Zimmer, at No. 5.

"Considering we had 2 huge matches on consecutive days, today's match could have easily fallen apart for us," Bohren said. "Natalie was down 5-2 in the third set, and she had match points against her yesterday. If any of those moments had a hiccup, we would have a 1-2 record right now instead of 3-0, so this has been a great start for us."

With the win over Point Loma Nazarene, its sixth straight in the all-time series, Azusa Pacific advances to 3-0 overall, all conference contests, and the Sea Lions drop to 2-1, both overall and GSAC. The Cougars visit Santa Barbara to take on No. 19-ranked Westmont on Tuesday, Feb. 24, then return home to host No. 3-ranked Vanguard and NCAA Div. II's No. 12-ranked Hawaii Pacific later next week.

SINGLES
1. Kristin Strimple (PLNU) def. Sheryl Bon (APU); 6-4, 6-3
2. Casey Wetzig (APU) def. Kelsey Weir (PLNU); 6-2, 6-2
3. Emily Ignas (APU) def. Kimberly Haynes (PLNU); 6-3, 6-0
4. Natalie McNall (APU) def. Rachel Owens (PLNU); 2-6, 7-6, 7-5
5. Marie Tanaka (APU) def. Taryn Zimmer (PLNU); 6-2, 7-6 (7-4)
6. Brittany Hall (PLNU) def. Katy Jelsma (APU); 7-5, 1-6, (10-2)

Order of finish: 2, 3, 1, 4, *5, 6 (*=clinching)

DOUBLES
1. Strimple/Haynes (PLNU) def. Jelsma/Wetzig (APU); 8-0
2. Weir/Owens (PLNU) def. Bon/Tanaka (APU); 8-5
3. Ignas/McNall (APU) def. Isabella Tumini/Samantha Mohr (PLNU); 8-5

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3