AZUSA, Calif. – For the third straight season, the Cougars will go for an elusive 21st win.

Twenty wins and five loses. The record that has haunted head coach Mark Bohren and the Azusa Pacific Men's Tennis program for the last two years.

Surprisingly enough, the Cougars finished exactly 20-5 in both the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Furthermore, last season the Cougars came up one game short of missing nationals by losing in the West Regionals 5-1 to none other than UC San Diego.

NCAA West Region Men's Tennis Information

Teams: #14 Azusa Pacific vs. #12 UC San Diego
Location: San Diego, Calif. (Northview Tennis Courts)
Time: 1:00 p.m. (PDT)
Admission: Free
NCAA Digital Program
Live Scoreboard

Who do the Cougars play on Monday in a West Regional playoff match? The Tritons of UC San Diego.

Ironic? You bet.

In the last three meetings between the Tritons and the Cougars dating back to the 2016 West Regional playoff match, the away team has been the victor every single time.

In February of 2017 the Cougars traveled to La Jolla defeating UCSD 5-4. Earlier this month, UC San Diego made a visit to Azusa defeating the Cougars by the same score of 5-4.

"The fact that we are going down to UC San Diego helps us to solely focus on the match only," said Schmid after reminiscing about last year's season ending match at home. The Cougars know the statistics and are going to try to use the recent remedy of being the away team to their advantage.  

The winner of Monday's match will reach the NCAA Championships in Orlando, Fla and would play Bluefield State in the opening round. The 16-team tournament begins on May 9.