CLAREMONT, Calif. -- Despite playing in an era with shorter regular seasons, Jan Meyer hasn't been shy about reaching big career milestones in his fourth season as a part of the Azusa Pacific men's tennis program.
Match Results
After winning his 25th consecutive match earlier in the season, Meyer reached career singles win number 83 on Tuesday's regular season finale, giving the Cougar No. 1 the second most career singles wins in program history, while leading Azusa Pacific to a 5-4 win against Claremont Mudd Scripps under the lights.
Meyer defeated Skylar Butts, who is the No. 3 player in NCAA Division III, 6-1, 6-1, which gave the Cougars a 3-1 lead. Christian Schmid then won at No. 2 singles 6-4, 6-0 to put Azusa Pacific a point away from victory.
Patrick Wildman won at No. 5 singles and Daniel Morkovine won at No. 3 to keep the Stags alive, but Pascal Engel quickly ended any hopes of a comeback. The junior also won in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 to clinch the 5-4 victory as he had done twice last season.
With the win, Azusa Pacific improves to 20-4 on the season for the program's fifth consecutive 20-win season.
In doubles, Alan Leahy got a win in his home town, playing alongside Engel for the 8-2 win at No. 2 doubles. Then Shepherd Newcomb got his 14th consecutive doubles win, when playing with Schmid. The pair is now one win away from tying the 15-1 mark of Meyer and Gary Yam in 2014. They're also one win away from tying the program record longest doubles winning streak set by one team when Jochem Hoefnagels and Janosch Apelt 15 consecutive matches, while guiding the Cougars to the national semifinals.
The Cougars will find out their playoff destiny in a couple weeks on the selection show, where Azusa Pacific will be looking for its second straight playoff appearance in just as many years of NCAA playoff eligibility.