SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- It was a victory the NAIA's No. 6-ranked Azusa Pacific was in dire need of–a match to dominate wire-to-wire against a quality opponent with a full, healthy lineup.

Azusa Pacific commanded almost every aspect of an 8-1 victory over the No. 12-ranked Point Loma Nazarene Saturday afternoon at the PLNU Courts. Junior Matthijs Bolsius extends his singles consecutive winning streak to 9 matches, only needing a pair of matches to tie his career-long 11-match streak established in the 2007 season.

"Slowly but surely, we're coming into form with this group of guys," Cougar head coach Mark Bohren said.

For the first time in 9 matches, Azusa Pacific swept doubles play. The No. 2 doubles tandem of junior Ronald Chow and sophomore Daniel Moore along with the No. 3 tandem of freshmen Ilja Ikonnikov and Janosch Apelt delivered a pair of identical 8-2 scores. At No. 1 doubles, Bolsius and junior Mathias Weber had a close 8-6 win but never trailed in their match.

The singles docket moved swiftly and efficiently in the Cougars' favor. The top 5 singles positions collected straight-set decisions: a 6-2, 7-6 victory for Bolsius at No. 1, a 6-1, 6-1 triumph for Apelt at No. 2, a 6-2, 6-3 tally for Weber at No. 3, a 6-1, 6-2 win for Chow at No. 4, and another 6-1, 6-2 score for Moore at No. 5.

At No. 6 singles, Freshman Whitman Hough won 6-3 in the first set, but opponent Josh Nelson responded with a 6-3 score in the second set, and Nelson took the super-tiebreaker, 10-8, to prevent a Cougar shutout. It was the fifth consecutive loss for Azusa Pacific at No. 6.

"We've been working on our team's energy level, trying to pick it up," Bohren said. "As a group, they continue to improve. They didn't get down when we were losing. They just kept on working hard to be better. That's a sign of a good team."

With the win, Azusa Pacific advances to 9-10 overall, 6-4 in GSAC, while Point Loma Nazarene drops to 8-9 overall, 4-7 in GSAC. The Cougars next play Westmont at the Munson and Bavougian Tennis Complex on Tuesday, Mar. 31, at 2 p.m.

SINGLES
1. Matthijs Bolsius (APU) def. Joel Myers (PLNU); 6-2, 7-6
2. Janosch Apelt (APU) def. Travis Albaugh (PLNU); 6-1, 6-1
3. Mathias Weber (APU) def. Landon Hilker (PLNU); 6-2, 6-3
4. Daniel Moore (APU) def. Andy Hong (PLNU); 6-1, 6-2
5. Ronald Chow (APU) def. Trent Brown (PLNU); 6-1, 6-2
6. Josh Nelson (PLNU) def. Whitman Hough (APU); 3-6, 6-3 (10-8)

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

DOUBLES
1. Bolsius/Weber (APU) def. Albaugh/Myers (PLNU); 8-6
2. Chow/Moore (APU) def. Jeff Nelson/Brown (PLNU); 8-2
3. Ilja Ikonnikov/Apelt (APU) def. Hilker/Josh Nelson (PLNU); 8-2

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1