AZUSA, Calif. -- The history between Azusa Pacific and Point Loma men's tennis is a lopsided one with the Cougars winning 25 matches in a row between the two programs since 2012. However, after the Sea Lions' impressive showing during the fall season, the PacWest coaches picked them ahead of Azusa Pacific in the preseason poll.

Friday afternoon's match at the Cougar Tennis Complex was the closest meeting between the two teams since 2015, but Azusa Pacific kept the winning streak going with a 5-2 victory that featured five three-set matches in singles and a tiebreaker to determine the doubles point. Miha Velicki was part of the doubles team that won the clinching tiebreaker for the Cougars and then he went on to clinch the match as well with his 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 4 singles.

No. 18 Azusa Pacific, which improves to 4-2 on the season, now has a 26-match winning streak against Point Loma and a 25-0 record since the two programs joined the PacWest. No. 21 Point Loma suffers its first loss of the season, dropping to 2-1, which doesn't include two exhibition wins against NCAA Division I opponents to start the year.

The Cougars got a 2-0 lead with the help of Brody Bohren's quick 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 6 singles after taking the doubles point. All of the other five singles matches went the distance, and the Cougars won the first set in just two of those five matches.

Marko Nikoliuk faced Tyler Davis at No. 2 singles and took the first set in a tiebreaker 7-6(3) against the No. 9 singles player in the nation. Davis, who played No. 1 singles last year for the Sea Lions, came back quickly to take the second set 6-2, forcing a decider. Nikoliuk then picked up his third win in a row, and more importantly, the Cougars' third point on the day by winning the third set to take the match, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-4.

Point Loma got its first point at No. 3 doubles, where Fabian Penzkofer won 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 against Elias Emilio Walter, while all three remaining matches were into the deciding set. That was when Velicki came through to clinch the match. After dropping the opening set in heart-breaking fashion 8-6 in the tiebreaker, he bounced back to win the next two sets relatively comfortably for a 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-3 win over David Strassburger. Velicki and Nikoliuk now both have four wins in singles play, which leads the team on the season.

Vili Bonev faced a tough test at No. 5 singles against Nabeel Khan, who had a chance toa win the match in the second set. However, Bonev came back to take the second in a tiebreaker and went on to win the match 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-4.

The final match to finish was a rematch of the ITA Fall West Region Championship between No. 12 Leyton Bohren for Azusa Pacific and No. 4 Alexander Leischner for Point Loma. Leischner won the first two meetings between the two in straight sets and also added a win over Bohren in doubles earlier in the day. This time, Bohren broke serve twice to win the second set against Leischner, who won the first set in a tiebreaker. In the deciding set, Leischner broke in the seventh game and went on to take the match 7-6, 3-6, 6-3.

In doubles, Brody Bohren and Bonev won 6-3 at No. 3 doubles and then Velicki and Walter won the decisive tiebreaker at No. 2 doubles to win the point. As a team, the Cougars have now won 12 of 17 doubles sets this season.

This is the Cougars' third win against a PacWest opponent, putting the defending PacWest Champions in good position again for the PacWest Championships and the NCAA West Regional. The Cougars will face Point Loma one more time in the regular season in San Diego on April 1. The Cougars will be back on the road on Monday to face UC Riverside and then return home to face rival Biola on Thursday.