FRESNO, Calif. – Azusa Pacific is off to a 6-0 start to the season after a 6-1 win over Fresno Pacific on Wednesday in which the Cougars won five of the six singles matches in straight sets with the five and six spots losing only one game combined in four sets.
Tina Moser won her No. 6 singles match 6-0, 6-0 to improve to 6-0 on the year in her singles matches. In fact, she has won all 12 sets she has played to start her collegiate career and won seven sets at love, including her last three in a row.
The Cougars have now won four matches against PacWest opponents. New ITA Rankings were released on Wednesday with the Cougars ranked No. 21, which is the highest ranking of any West Region team.
The first doubles point came down to No. 2 doubles.
Shannele Lopez and Moser won their doubles set 6-0 to start the day. That was the first of three love sets on the day for Moser between singles and doubles. The Sunbirds won the No. 1 doubles set in a tiebreaker, leaving only No. 2 doubles which was tied 5-all.
Karola Suviste and
Stina Larsson remained undefeated in doubles this season by winning the last two games to take the set 7-5.
Julia Jordan earned a dominant 6-0, 6-1 win over an in-form Daimy Paula at No. 2 singles. It is the second time this year she has won by that score, improving to 4-1 on the season. Suviste won her singles match by the same score at the No. 5 spot. In all five of her wins this season, she has not lost more than two games.
The middle of the lineup also earned straight-set wins.
Katherine Nguyen picked up her fourth-consecutive win with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph at No. 4 singles. Before that, Larsson won at No. 3 singles 6-4, 6-2 to join Moser, her fellow freshman, with a team-best 6-0 record on the season.
The Sunbirds' sole point came by retirement. Yume Ueoku won 6-1, 4-1, ret. against
Vini Bautista. Ueoku also won their previous meeting, topping Bautista in three sets at the ITA West Regional. The retirement snapped an 11-match winning streak for Bautista in regular-season team matches.
The Cougars will play again on Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. at the Concordia, which will host on its own campus.
Live scores will be available for the match.
