SURPRISE, Ariz. - Two-seed Azusa Pacific opened up play at the PacWest Tournament with a 4-2 victory, which was a battle against the #7 seed Hawai'i Hilo in the quarterfinals.

The Cougars jumped out to an early lead when duo pair Katherine Nguyen and Shanelle Lopez earned a 6-1 victory at No. 1. Then First Team All-PacWest doubles pair Madison Kane and Miruna Tudor took the 6-2 win at No. 1 to clinch the doubles point for the Cougars. Although they went unfinished, Second Team All-PacWest selections Julia Jordan and Vini Bautista were leading 5-3 on No. 2. 

Kane, who was named the PacWest Player of the Year yesterday ran to a straight set 6-0, 6-3 victory on No. 1, giving Azusa Pacific an early 2-0 lead. Hawai'i Hilo cut the deficit to one with a victory at No. 6, but Second Team All-PacWest selection Miruna Tudor got the momentum right back for the Cougars with a straight set 6-2, 6-3 victory at No. 4. 

Things got interesting when Bautista, Jordan and Nguyen were all battling on their respective courts. On No. 3, Bautista fell in the first set 7-5 before taking the second set 6-1. The Vulcans ended up prevailing to take the match, moving the score to 3-2 in favor of the Cougars.

Meanwhile on No. 2, Jordan who was a Third Team All-PacWest honoree took the first set on No. 2 7-6 and on No. 5, Nguyen fell in the first 3-6, but battled back winning a tiebreak 7-6 (7-2) to force a third set. Back on No. 2, Jordan prevailed, taking the second set 6-4 and clinching the match for Azusa Pacific by a final score of 4-2 to send them to the semi-finals of the PacWest tournament tomorrow against Concordia.

Although Jordan clinched the match for Azusa Pacific, on No. 5, Nguyen was tied 2-2 with her opponent in the third set. 


Up Next: The semifinal match against the Golden Eagles will start at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow, and live scoring can be followed via iOnCourt.