SAN DIEGO -- In her first match against an NCAA Division II opponent, sophomore Valeriia Kashina clinched a 5-4 victory for Azusa Pacific over No. 25 Point Loma with a 7-6(2), 7-6(6) win at No. 2 singles.

Match Results

The win was Kashina's second in what has been a smooth transition into the Cougar program after playing No. 1 singles at Division I school Southeast Missouri State. The win also clinched Azusa Pacific's first women's tennis victory as a full-fledged NCAA Division II member.

"I have a great group of teammates that I play with here, which gives me the motivation to help the team win," Kashina said. "I feel very comfortable playing at No. 2 singles, because I know Natalie will do well for us, which takes a lot of the pressure off me and I can just go out there and play."

However, there was very little that was straight-forward about Kashina's straight set victory. The native of Togliatta, Russia trailed Nikki Newell 5-2 in the second set and had to save a set point just to get to the tiebreak. In the tiebreak she trailed 6-3, but saved each of the three set points and converted the first match point she had to clinch the Cougars' first victory this season.

"That was a crucial win for us to get from Kashina, but also a big win for the team," head coach David Goodman said. "It was looking dicey for a while, but she did a great job to fight back. It's great for us to get a win like that over a tough opponent on the road early in the season."

Azusa Pacific came out of doubles play with a 2-1 deficit getting its only win from No. 1 doubles pairing of Natalie Johnson and Danae Ingwaldson, who are ranked No. 17 in the country. They won 8-4, while Kashina and Jackie Resler fell 8-6, and Sierra Troxel and Lindsey Yeom also dropped their set by a score of 8-3.

In singles, the No. 13-ranked Cougars took the first set on five of the six courts, and Johnson got a quick win to even the overall score a 2-2.

"We really needed that fast start in singles after dropping two of the doubles," Goodman said. "Once we started doing well in singles, the girls were able to look around and see that their teammates were winning, which takes a lot of pressure off each of them."

Resler earned her second to win the season, defeating Jen Weissmann 6-2, 6-4 at No. 6 singles, which gave the Cougars their first lead of the game.

"Jackie has been very solid to start the year," Goodman said of the true freshman. "She played great today and that was a huge boost for the whole team to get another quick win in singles."

Yeom put Azusa Pacific one win away from the victory with a straight-sets win at No. 5 singles, defeating Hilary Ramage. At No. 4 singles, Sea Lion Preethika Venugopal defeated Sierra Troxel 6-0, 7-5, leaving two tight matches on court and the Cougars needing to get one of the two.

After Kashina wrapped up her victory for the win as a team, Ingwaldson eventually dropped the deciding set, giving Regina von Koch a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory at No. 3 singles.

The Cougars will play again Saturday morning at UC San Diego, which is the No. 19 team in the nation.