AZUSA, Calif. - No. 31 Azusa Pacific's regular season finale was spoiled by the No. 5-ranked team in NCAA Division III, as Claremont-Mudd-Scripps held on for a 4-3 victory on Wednesday evening. The Cougars are now 14-6 overall.
Azusa Pacific was in a good position following doubles, as the Cougars earned the point with wins by their No. 2 (
Elias Emilio Walter and
Miha Velicki) and No. 3 (
Brody Bohren and
Vili Bonev) duos. Walter and Velicki won 6-2, and Bohren and Bonev were 6-3 victors.
The Stags opened up singles with back-to-back straight set wins to leap ahead 2-1, winning at No. 1 and No. 3. In the No. 2 match,
Leyton Bohren came through to level the match score at 2-2, as the senior beat Matthew Robinson by a 6-4 tally in the first set, and then finished up with a 6-1 second set. Bohren is now 6-1 at No. 2 this season.
Walter would put the Cougars back on top at No. 4, where he bounced back from a 3-6 loss to Christian Settles in the first set. In the second set, Walter won 6-2, and he closed his match out in convincing fashion, shutting out Settles for a 6-0 third set win that put the Cougars up 3-2 overall.Â
After the Stags were able to come away with another straight-set win at No. 5, the match was decided at No. 6 between Azusa Pacific's
Brody Bohren, and Claremont's Daniel Blackman. After Blackman won the first set by a 6-3 score, Bohren answered back with a 7-5 second set to force a third and final set. The momentum swung back and forth between Bohren and Blackman, and the two played to a 6-6 deadlock to force a tiebreak. In the tiebreak, Blackman hung on for a 7-4 win to clinch the match for the visitors.
Tonight's match marked the final time that
Leyton Bohren,
Marko Nikoliuk and
Dylan Parsley (Parsley played an exhibition match at No. 7, where he won 7-6 (9-7), 6-4), would play a home match in their collegiate careers, as it was Senior Day for the Cougars.
Up Next: Now, the Cougars turn their attention towards the postseason, with the PacWest Championships up next on April 19-22 in Surprise. The Cougars return to the conference tournament as the defending champions, as they captured the program's second PacWest title last year with a 4-3 win over top-seed Hawai'i Pacific.
