AZUSA, Calif. –
Miruna Tudor clinched both the doubles point and the match on Friday as Azusa Pacific earned a 6-1 win over Hawai`i Hilo at the Cougar Tennis Complex, winning 13 of 15 sets in total for a comprehensive victory.
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Tudor partnered with
April Wong for a 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles to clinch the doubles point. Then in singles with the Cougars leading 3-0, the Romanian won 6-3, 6-3 against Nanami Okamoto for her 10
th win in a row to clinch the match.
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Azusa Pacific now has an 11-4 record and has won four-consecutive matches against PacWest opponents. The Vulcans drop to 4-7 on the season, but remain in a strong position to earn a berth in the PacWest Championships, which are just a month away.
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The No. 4 doubles team in the nation of
Eleonora Liga and
Madison Kane bageled their opponents at No. 1 doubles. The Cougars' top duo now has a 12-2 record this season.
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In singles, Liga was the first to finish, winning 6-1, 6-1, and Kane finished next with a 6-3, 6-1 triumph. Liga, who is the two-time defending PacWest Player of the Week, now has a team-best 11-match winning streak in singles.
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Katherine Nguyen now has two wins in a row after her historic winning streak came to an end last week. She won 7-6(4), 6-1, cruising to her 11th win in 12 matches this season after an impressive performance in the business end of the first set.
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Vini Bautista earned a hard-fought 6-3, 7-6(4) win at No. 4 singles. Bautista has won all three tiebreakers that she has played this season. Hawai`i Hilo's lone point came at No. 3 singles where Hikari Osaki won in three sets against
April Wong despite Wong having won more total games. Osaki, who has played No. 1 singles for the Vulcans in previous years, won the match 6-4, 0-6, 6-4.
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Katia Betancourt and
Kylie Hull played doubles together for the first time this season. Their set was left unfinished after the Cougars won the first two sets of doubles.
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Azusa Pacific will have less than 15 hours to recover before hosting Biola on Saturday morning. It is the first of back-to-back Saturdays in which the Cougars and Eagles will face each other.