AZUSA, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific matched its season-long winning streak at 3 matches with an 8-1 win over Westmont Tuesday afternoon, and the NAIA’s No. 6-ranked Cougars picked up a spot in the Golden State Athletic Conference standings with the victory. Vanguard dropped into fifth place with 1 more conference loss than Azusa Pacific heading into Saturday’s match between the teams in Costa Mesa.
Freshmen Janosch Apelt and Ilja Ikonnikov got the Cougars going early with a perfect 8-0 sweep at No. 3 doubles, and the other Azusa Pacific tandems followed suit for the doubles sweep and a 3-0 lead heading into singles play.
Junior Matthijs Bolsius won his 10th consecutive match at the top singles spot, posting a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Bryan Cox. Apelt, who opened the season as the No. 4 singles player for Azusa Pacific before working his way up to the No. 2 position, improved to 8-3 at that second spot with his 6-1, 6-0 win that provided the decisive fifth point that clinched the dual match win for the Cougars.
Sophomore Daniel Moore, who snapped an individual 6-match losing streak in Saturday’s 8-1 win at Point Loma Nazarene, picked up his second straight singles victory by edging Kent Stormans in a third-set super tiebreaker, 10-8, at No. 3 singles. Freshman Whitman Hough and junior Danny Colten notched identical 6-0, 6-1 scores in their wins at No. 5 and 6 singles, respectively. Westmont’s lone point in the match came from Arthur Kalayjian’s third-set super tiebreaker win, 10-6, over freshman Jack Zapala, who rallied to win the second set, 6-1, after dropping the opening set by a 6-2 margin.
With the win, Azusa Pacific improves to 10-10 overall, 7-4 in GSAC play, while Westmont drops to 3-13 overall, 2-10 GSAC. The Cougars head into the final 5 matches of the regular season with back-to-back road contests, first visiting No. 8-ranked Vanguard April 4 before an April 7 date at No. 4-ranked Fresno Pacific. The final 3 regular-season matches are all at home against conference opponents.
SINGLES
1. Matthijs Bolsius (APU) def. Bryan Cox (WC); 6-1, 6-0
2. Janosch Apelt (APU) def. Ryley Schultz (WC); 6-1, 6-0
3. Daniel Moore (APU) def. Kent Stormans (WC); 6-3, 3-6 (10-8)
4. Arthur Kalayjian (WC) def. Jack Zapala (APU); 6-2, 1-6 (10-6)
5. Whitman Hough (APU) def. Mathias Newell (WC); 6-0, 6-1
6. Danny Colten (APU) def. Cody King (WC); 6-0, 6-1
Order of finish: 1, 2*, 3, 4, 5, 6 (*=clinching match)
DOUBLES
1. Bolsius/Mathias Weber (APU) def. Cox/Kalayjian (WC); 8-5
2. Ronald Chow/Moore (APU) def. Schultz/Stormans (WC); 8-2
3. Apelt/Ilja Ikonnikov (APU) def. King/Newell (WC); 8-0
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
