SAN DIEGO -- For the second weekend in a row, Azusa Pacific has had to play a road match on Saturday morning after playing at home on Friday afternoon, and the Cougars fell on the road both times as Point Loma earned a 6-1 win at the PLNU tennis courts on Saturday.
The Cougars won a thrilling doubles point, but had little left in the tank for singles as the Sea Lions won all 12 singles sets to defeat the Cougars for the first time since 2011. In fact, three of the Cougars who were on that 2011 team were in attendance for the battle between two of the top-4 teams in the PacWest. During the careers of those three Cougars, Azusa Pacific won seven of eight matches against Point Loma, which turned into a 26-match winning streak for the Cougars.
The 26th win in that streak came earlier this season, which is the only match that Point Loma has lost all year. The Sea Lions now have a 14-1 record and the No. 1 ranking in the PacWest as a result. The Cougars were ranked No. 4 in the latest conference-wide rankings, but will likely move up one spot after having topped Concordia on Friday.
In doubles,
Leyton Bohren and
Marko Nikoliuk earned an impressive 6-3 win over the No. 37 doubles team in the nation. The Cougars' No. 1 duo is ranked exactly one spot higher in the national rankings than Alexander Leischner and Tyler Davis. Bohren is now tied for the sixth-most No. 1 doubles wins in Azusa Pacific history with Oliver Frank at 48.
Point Loma initially led both of the remaining doubles sets, but the Cougars came back from down a break on each court to force tiebreakers.
Vili Bonev and
Brody Bohren saved two set points just to get to the tiebreaker and saved a third set point at 6-5 in the tiebreaker. While they were changing ends,
Elias Emilio Walter and
Miha Velicki won their set in a tiebreaker 7-6(3) to clinch the doubles point.
However, the Sea Lions controlled the rest of the match. Leischner won a battle of nationally-ranked singles players at the No. 1 position, beating Nikoliuk 6-3, 6-1. At No. 3 singles, Fabian Penzkofer defeated Walter 6-2, 6-3. Those two losses snapped nine-match winning streaks for both Cougars. It is also the first time that anyone has defeated Nikoliuk in the No. 1 position this year. The Sea Lions won all of the four other singles matches to win the match overall 6-1.
Azusa Pacific will wrap up the regular season by visiting Fresno Pacific on April 7 before hosting Claremont Mudd Scripps on April 12. The Cougars are going for an undefeated regular season at home on April 12 which has not happened since 2013 when Azusa Pacific went undefeated for the entire regular season before winning the NCCAA National Championship.
