RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Just three days after winning a marathon match against Point Loma, Azusa Pacific did it again on Monday afternoon, this time beating a NCAA Division I opponent in UC Riverside, 4-1, on the road.
For the second match in a row, the Cougars had five of six singles matches go the distance, and once again the Cougars came away with the victory. As a team, Azusa Pacific has now won eight of its last 10 three-set matches this season.
Azusa Pacific is now 5-2, while the Highlanders drop to 3-8 on the season. It is the first time that UC Riverside has lost to a NCAA Division II opponent since the last time the Cougars went to Riverside in 2021.
The Cougars cruised through doubles with
Leyton Bohren and Nikoliuk Marko winning 6-2 at No. 1 doubles before
Brody Bohren and
Vili Bonev won 6-4 at No. 3 doubles.
Elias Emilio Walter and
Miha Velicki led their match 5-3 at No. 2 doubles when the doubles point was clinched.
In singles,
Leyton Bohren was taken out of the lineup, giving Emilio Walter his second chance to play No. 1 singles this season. The Cougars had their backs against the wall early in singles with UC Riverside winning the first set in five of the six singles matches. Bonev quickly won his first set at No. 5 singles 6-1 for the Cougars' only set, but he went on to drop the next set 4-6.
Bonev rebounded quickly to win the deciding set almost as easily as the opener, taking the match 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 for the Bulgarian's third win in a row. Shortly after that, the Highlanders got on the board with Antreas Djakouris winning at No. 2 singles 6-3, 6-1 against Nikoliuk.
Cole Rassner joined Emilio Walter, Velicki and
Brody Bohren as the four Cougars to come back from down a set and force a decider. Bohren gave the Cougars their third point with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 6 singles. At that point, all three remaining matches were into a third set with the Cougars holding a 3-1 lead.
The theme of comebacks continued. Velicki, who clinched a similarly flavored win over Point Loma on Friday, did it again for Azusa Pacific on Monday. After dropping the opening set, he came through in a third-set tiebreaker to win 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(3). It is Velicki's third win in a row, and his team-leading fifth singles win this season.
Emilio Walter was on the brink of a third-set tiebreaker when his match was left unfinished at 4-6, 6-4, 5-6, while Rassner was tied early in the third set, 6-7(3), 6-4, 2-2.
Azusa Pacific will face PacWest foe Biola on Thursday at home in the first of two meetings this season between the Cougars and Eagles. Azusa Pacific remains undefeated against Biola in men's tennis, but the Eagles have become a more competitive foe in recent years under the leadership of Cougar alum David Goodman. Last year, he led the Eagles to the NCAA West Regional for the first time, where they ran into Azusa Pacific for the third time on the season, and the Cougars came through to return to the NCAA National Championships.
