SURPRISE, Ariz. – The fifth time was the charm.
After reaching the finals of the PacWest Tournament in each of their first four seasons in the league, the Azusa Pacific men's tennis came away as the runner-up. On Saturday they were no longer a second place team.
Despite trailing after doubles the Cougars rallied past No. 9 Hawai'i Hilo 5-2 for the program's first PacWest championship.
The win also is a measure of revenge for the 14th ranked Cougars after the Vulcans posted a win earlier this season. Azusa Pacific moves to 25-2 and will host an NCAA West Regional contest on either Monday, April 30 or Tuesday, May 1 against an opponent to be determined. The official announcement will be made on Tuesday, April 24 at 5:30 p.m. (PDT).
Oliver Frank was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
"This is just pure joy. We have been working all season towards this goal and it is so great to experience this win as a team," said Frank. "To battle back and win this together just feels great. Even though we were down after doubles we were all still positive after we took a couple seconds to gather ourselves. We knew we could on all six lines and we were positive about what could happen."
DOUBLES: The tone of the contest was set as the doubles matches came to a close.
Frank and Jakob Schnaitter continued their newly found success at the top spot by posting an 8-4 win against the 21st ranked duo of Vaclav Slezak and Alessandro Giuliato. The Vulcans pulled away late at the No. 3 slot with Gregory Zukeran and Chun En Wu nabbing an 8-5 victory.
There was plenty of late drama in the second spot as the contest went to a tiebreaker. In the extra frame Antonio Pejic and Christan Schmid raced out to a 5-1 lead. However Bruno Filglia and Alex Fillar Perez were able to rally by winning seven of the last eight points to win the tiebreaker.
"We certainly wanted to be in front after doubles but we have a very composed team that has good senior leadership," said head coach Mark Bohren. "This is a special team that isn't fazed by much and they really re-focused before singles started and we were able to get the job done."
SINGLES: The comeback was sealed as the Cougars were not denied in any match.
Frank won the first contest as he topped No. 29 Slezak 6-3, 6-4 in the top position to help get the momentum rolling. Shortly after that match was complete Ronald Kang notched a 6-0, 6-4 win at the No. 4 slot for the third Azusa Pacific point.
As the contests continued, it was nip-and-tuck. Pejic walked away a straight sets (6-2, 7-5) winner at the No. 6 slot to bring the Cougars closer to the title. The match that sealed the championships and sit off a raucous celebration came when Christian Schmid tallied a 6-4, 7-5 triumph at the No. 2.
The final two matches were unfinished but Schnaitter had a third set lead at the No. 3 slot while Ryan Nuno was battling with a tight lead in the fifth position.
