AZUSA, Calif. -- The NAIA's No. 5-ranked Azusa Pacific could not finish a series of comebacks in 5 of the matches it lost, faltering to the NCAA Div. III's No. 4-ranked Middlebury (Vt.) in a 6-3 decision Saturday afternoon at the Munson and Bavougian Tennis Complex.

Middlebury took 2 of the 3 doubles matches, starting with an 8-5 win over freshman tandem Ilja Ikonnikov and Jack Zapala at No. 3. Junior Ronald Chow and sophomore Daniel Moore took an 8-4 decision at No. 2 doubles to split the doubles docket at 1-1.

At No. 1 doubles, Middlebury's aggressive serve-and-volley strategy helped the Panthers to a 8-6 win over juniors Matthjis Bolsius and Mathias Weber. The match featured 14 deuce points in the first 5 games, which all went to the deuce stage. The Panthers took a 4-1 advantage in that stretch to propel a 7-4 lead. Azusa Pacific diminished to the lead to 7-6, but the Panthers closed the set, 8-6, sweeping the last game in 4 points.

Bolsius and Weber were successful in singles play after the doubles setback and were the only pair to register singles wins for the Cougars. Bolsius rolled to a 6-2, 6-1 decision at No. 1 singles and Weber won 6-2, 6-3 at No. 3 singles.

The remaining singles matches in favor of Middlebury had near-comebacks, most dramatically in Moore's No. 2 singles match. In the second set, Moore overcame a 5-2 deficit to force a second tiebreaker and faced a 5-0 deficit within that tiebreaker. Five points down, he scored 7 of the next 8 points to give himself a 7-6 lead, but 3 consecutive errors handed the 7-6, 7-6 victory to Middlebury's Andrew Thomson.

In a 7-6, 6-3 loss at No. 4 singles, Chow forced a first set tiebreaker after rallying from a 4-1 deficit, but he lost the tiebreaker, 7-2. Furthermore, in a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 loss at No. 5 singles, Ikonnikov forced a 3-3 third set tie after falling behind 3-1. Finally, in a 6-4, 6-1 loss at No. 6 singles, sophomore Jonathan Sosnowski was down 5-2 in the first set, but could only close the gap to 5-4 there.

With its eighth loss in 11 matches, its worst slump in 13 seasons, Azusa Pacific drops to 7-9, while Middlebury improves to 5-0. The Cougars conclude a season-long 5-match homestand next week, hosting a Golden State Athletic Conference match with California Baptist on Tuesday, Mar. 24, at 2 p.m., then their final non-conference match with the NCAA Div. III's No. 8-ranked UC Santa Cruz on Wednesday, Mar. 25, at 2:30 p.m.

SINGLES
1. Matthijs Bolsius (APU) def. Conrad Olson (MC); 6-2, 6-1
2. Andrew Thomson (MC) def. Daniel Moore (APU); 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (9-7)
3. Mathias Weber (APU) def. Andrew Lee (MC); 6-2, 6-3
4. Andrew Peters (MC) def. Ronald Chow (APU); 7-6 (7-2), 6-3
5. Peter Odell (MC) def. Ilja Ikonnikov (APU); 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
6. Derrick Angle (MC) def. Jonathan Sosnowski (APU); 6-4, 6-1

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

DOUBLES
1. David Farah/Thomson (MC) def. Bolsius/Weber (APU); 8-6
2. Chow/Moore (APU) def. Olson/Peters (MC); 8-4
3. Rich Bonfiglio/Chris Mason (MC) def. Jack Zapala/Ikonnikov (APU); 8-5

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1