RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Azusa Pacific men's tennis had won 26-consecutive regular season matches going into Monday afternoon's encounter with UC Riverside, but on the heels of two long road wins at Fresno Pacific and Concordia, there wasn't much left in the tank for the Cougars, who fell 4-2 to the Highlanders.
 
The Cougars had three of their usual starters out of the lineup in singles against the NCAA Division I opponent, playing on short rest, but still might the match tight. Soeren Grandke and Max Schmidhauser both won in straight sets to put the pressure on UC Riverside, but the Highlanders came through for their second win of the season.
 
Azusa Pacific is now 7-1 on the season, while UC Riverside improves to 2-8. This was UC Riverside's first win over the Cougars in five attempts.
 
The Highlanders won both completed doubles sets to earn the first point of the match. Schmidhauser and Albertus Du Plessis played together for the third time this year, taking the No. 3 doubles spot, but fell 6-4.
 
Christopher Marci entered the lineup in singles to play his second match of his career, but fell 6-2, 6-2 at No. 6 singles. Du Plessis also suffered a straight-sets loss at No. 5 singles after two competitive sets, 6-4, 6-4. He is now 1-1 on the season.
 
Brody Bohren played at No. 3 singles for the first time in his career with the Cougars, but fell in a close battle 7-6(4), 6-4 against Lucas Ibarrondo Suarez. Miha Velicki split his first two sets at No. 2 singles, winning the second set 6-4. The match was halted at 3-6, 6-4, 1-2 when the Highlanders clinched the victory.
 
Grandke took out a No. 1 singles player in Division I with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Justin Lamy. He is now 8-0 on the season and 29-2 in his career, but this was his first win at No. 1 in his first time in the position.
 
Schmidhauser won the Cougars' other point at No. 4 singles, winning 6-3, 6-2. It was his second time playing at No. 4 singles and his second win, improving to 9-1 overall in his career.
 
The Cougars will have four much needed days of rest before Saturday's showdown at the Cougar Tennis Complex against Biola. After years of Azusa Pacific dominating the Eagles, over the last five years, the two rival schools have become rivals in tennis too. The Cougars have won nine of the 10 meetings in the last five years, but along with getting their first ever win, the Eagles have also made the matches much more competitive. First serve for doubles will be at 2 p.m.