RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Although Azusa Pacific was able to start its match against UC Riverside, they were unable to finish it leaving the match tied 3-3 on Monday. While the match will not be counted towards the season record, the team still remains unbeaten this season with a 5-0 record.
Elias Emilio Walter and Miha Velicki were able to come away with a 6-3 win at No. 1 doubles to remain undefeated this season. However, the Cougars dropped the doubles point with a 7-5 loss at No. 3 doubles.
Down 1-0 going into singles for the third match in a row, Azusa Pacific was ready to rally despite the rain rolling in.
The Cougars came away with their first point as Constantin Barth won in straight sets (6-4, 6-4) at No. 5 singles against UC Riverside's Aarav Sane. Barth remains unbeaten this season in singles.
Although UC Riverside secured another point at No. 3 singles, Brody Bohren was able to tie it back up at 2-2 with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 6 singles.
Then, keeping the momentum going, Soeren Grandke was able to secure the third point for the Cougars with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win over Hugo DeGrande at No. 4 singles. Grandke's win was his fifth singles win in a row with his only loss this season coming in his first match of the year against Fresno Pacific.
While the Cougars were only one set away from winning the match, UC Riverside rallied from losing the first set 3-6 at No. 2 singles to take the next two sets (7-5, 6-3) tying things up at 3-3.
With all the pressure at No. 1 singles, Walter took the first set 7-5 before dropping the next one 6-4 to UC Riverside's Joshua Roth. Just as Walter went up 4-1 against Roth, the match was abandoned due to the rain thus leaving the score at 3-3.
Walter remains undefeated this season winning all of his singles matches in straight sets except his match against Westmont and this match left unfinished against the Highlanders.
Up Next: Azusa Pacific will travel to Irvine for their next match against Concordia on Saturday, Feb. 24th. The match is scheduled to start at 12:00 p.m.
