Riverside, Calif.-- The No. 11 Cougars gutted out a hard fought win Friday afternoon, coming through in the clutch with four straight victories in singles to seal a 4-3 victory over Division I UC Riverside. After dropping doubles and the first two matches in singles, the Cougars bounced back and claimed three singles wins to set up Leyton Bohren's nail-biting 7-5 victory to clinch the match and improve APU 11-1 on the season. 

UC Riverside controlled doubles play down the line in whipping up two quick wins on courts two and three to gain an early 1-0 lift. On court three, Ethan Smith and Ronald Kang dropped their first doubles match on the season 4-6 after teammates Leyton Bohren and Ryan Nuno lost at the No. 2 position 4-6. At the top spot, however, Jakob Schnaitter and Jesse Haas finished on top 6-4. 

In singles, the Highlanders snagged the first matches on courts three and six to turn up the pressure on the Cougars. Vignesh Subramanyan notched a 6-3, 6-1 win on court 6 over freshman Ethan Smith before teammate Ronald Kang lost 1-6, 4-6 at the No. 3 spot against Gilbert Chung. Down 0-3, Jakob Schnaitter turned the tables for the Cougars quickly with a 6-3, 6-1 win at the top. Meanwhile, Ryan Nuno edged his way toward the finish line with a 6-1, 6-3 victory at the No. 2 position before Jesse Haas evened up the score 3-3 for the Cougars at the No. 5 slot with another 6-3, 6-1 win. At the No. 4 spot, all eyes were locked in on Leyton Bohren as he downed Filip Engstrom with an impressive 6-3, 7-5 win to clinch the match.

The No. 11 APU men's tennis team now turn to host Daemen University Saturday, March 16 with a 9:30 a.m match before another matchup against Colorado Mesa University at 2:00 p.m.