AZUSA, Calif. – An early season match-up between two of the best in the region, was closer than the final score may indicate.
The fifth ranked Azusa Pacific men's tennis team fought hard to post an 8-1 win against No. 15 UC San Diego on Friday afternoon.
DOUBLES: The team's split the first two matches off the courts, finishing at nearly identical times. Oliver Frank and Christian Schmid cruised to an 8-1 win for the home squad at the No. 1 slot while Neil Tengbumroong and Eskil Jarlskog were 8-3 winners at the third position for the Tritons (0-1).
Azusa Pacific was able to carry a 2-1 lead into the singles play thanks to a comeback effort from Antonio Pejic and Jakob Schnaitter at the No. 2 position. Despite trailing 6-4, the tandem rallied to win four straight games to secure the match. Furthermore they won eight of the last nine points in the match.
SINGLES: Thanks to an efficient effort by Ronald Kang at the fourth singles match, the Cougars pulled within two points of the team. The Azusa Pacific newcomer posted a 6-4, 6-2 win against Jarlskog.
From that point forward all the matches were grinders. Azusa Pacific (3-0) pulled within one point of the team win as Jakob Schnaitter rallied for the win at the third singles spot. The freshman dropped the first set 6-4 but rallied for 6-4, 6-2 wins in the second and third sets respectively.
Christian Schmid upped the rally ante for a victory in the No. 2 singles spot. After not winning a game in the first set, the senior won the next two stanza's 6-4, 6-2 to clinch the team match.
The three-set wins for the Cougars continued at the No. 5 and No. 6 singles matches. Ryan Nuno rallied for a 6-4 setback in the opening frame to win the last two sets by identical 6-3 counts. On the court right next to Nuno, Leahy fell in a first set tiebreaker but won the second frame 6-4 then won a super tiebreaker 10-2 for the home team's seventh team point.
The final match on the courts was an absolutely thriller at the top spot as Frank pulled-out a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (8) win. After splitting the first two sets, Frank took a 4-1 lead only to see Eric Tseng rally to take a 6-5 lead. Frank, after fighting off a pair of match points, broke to force a tiebreaker but fell behind and had to fight off another match point. On his third match point, Frank notched the win to remain undefeated singles play during dual matches.
QUOTABLE: "Nice win today. This is always a tough match and they have beaten us the last few times here so it's a really good early season result," said head coach Mark Bohren. "When we play them again in April, I'm sure the intensity will be just as high as it was today."
RIVALRY HISTORY: These two team have been among the best in the NCAA West Region's since the Cougars joined the NCAA ranks for the 2015 season. One of these two programs have qualified for the NCAA National Tournament the last three years. Expect that trend to continue the season.
