AZUSA, Calif. – Elk hunting season in the state of California was supposed to end on January 2, but Azusa Pacific women's tennis didn't get the memo, decisively defeating the Stanton Elks 7-0 on Saturday in the 2025 season opener at the Cougar Tennis Complex.
 
The Cougars had little trouble claiming their first win of the season with no player dropping more than two games in any of the singles matches in what proved to be a friendly way to ease into the new season.
 
The Cougars' freshman trio all earned their first career wins with Karola Suviste, Stina Larsson, and Tina Moser all winning their team competition debuts. Suviste and Larsson also teamed up at No. 2 doubles to win 6-2. Larsson won at No. 3 singles, 6-0, 6-2, while Suviste at No. 5 and Moser at No. 6 both won by the same score, 6-0, 6-1.
 
For the veterans, the wins came just as easily. Nationally-ranked No. 20 doubles team Julia Jordan and Vini Bautista improved to 17-5 as a duo with a 6-1 win at No. 1 doubles to clinch the doubles point. Katherine Nguyen and Shannele Lopez got their 15th win as a team, taking the No. 3 set 6-3.
 
Bautista played at No. 1 singles for the first time in her collegiate career and had no trouble earning a 6-1, 6-1 win. Jordan got her 13th singles win as a Cougar with a 6-0, 6-1 triumph. Nguyen was slotted at No. 4 singles for just the second time in her career and the first time in almost three years but with the same result, winning 6-0, 6-2. Nguyen now has 48 career wins as she continues to approach a milestone.
 
The Cougars are scheduled to return to action on Wednesday at home against Cal State LA if the rain holds off. Then on Saturday, Azusa Pacific will travel to Point Loma for a showdown between two of the top-3 teams in the PacWest preseason poll.
 
SEASON PREVIEW
 
Azusa Pacific was picked second in the PacWest preseason coaches poll with three first-place votes behind only defending champion Academy of Art as the Cougars pursue a third PacWest title in the 2025 season.
 
During the last five seasons, Azusa Pacific has reached at least the round of 16 in the NCAA postseason and have reached the PacWest final in each of the past four seasons in what has been the most successful period in the women's tennis program's history since joining NCAA Division II.
 
With four returners from last year's team and three international freshmen, the Cougars are looking to continue building on their recent success against a PacWest conference that has gotten deeper in recent years after having been dominated by BYU-Hawaii and Hawai`i Hilo for decades.
 
Until last spring, Azusa Pacific was the only team that had broken up the dominance of the two schools on Oahu, but Academy of Art made a run as the No. 5 seed to win a maiden title. Now the Urban Knights are the favorite this season in what promises to be a dramatic 2025 season.
 
From last season, the Cougars lost to graduation Miruna Tudor and Madison Kane, who rank second and fourth, respectively, on the Cougars' all-time winning percentage list for singles and doubles. Eleonora Liga who graduated the previous year ranks No. 1 on the all-time list, so opportunity abounds for new names to step up.
 
Fortunately for head coach Mark Bohren, he can count on four returning players who have proven themselves at the collegiate level. The doubles pairing of Vini Bautista and Julia Jordan are at the top of the lineup. The pair combined for a 25-10 record in the top half of the singles lineup last season and went 15-5 together in doubles. This fall they earned the No. 1 seed in the ITA West Regional and reached the final, finishing runner-up to Point Loma's No. 1 team.
 
Katherine Nguyen and Shannele Lopez are the other two returners. Nguyen went 12-5 last season to reach 47 career wins, giving her the second-best career singles winning percentage in program history (trailing only Liga). Meanwhile, Lopez went 18-4 in her first season of significant playing time, seeing action primarily at No. 6 singles. The duo also combined for a 14-4 record in doubles.
 
Head Coach Mark Bohren, who was named PacWest Coach of the Year in women's tennis for the first time last year, has added three freshman to the roster, coming from Switzerland, Sweden, and Estonia. "For a group of freshmen, these three are very experienced and mature. It won't take them long to adjust to college tennis, and I'm looking forward to what they can accomplish both as individuals and as a group."
 
All three players, Stina Larsson, Tina Moser, and Karola Suviste, will feature prominently in the lineup, and they arrive in Azusa with impressive resumes. Suviste spent four years at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca and had a successful junior tennis career that saw her reach a career-high ranking of 1,172 in the world for juniors. Larsson notched an 11-5 record in international juniors events, including qualifying results, and Moser helped TC Luzern Lido win a Swiss national title.
 
The season begins at home against Stanton on Saturday, and the Cougars are scheduled to host Cal State LA for the first match against a PacWest team on Wednesday if weather permits. The Cougars will play at Concordia on February 22 and then host Hawai`i Pacific on March 11 as part of a busy 10-match month of March.
 
The PacWest Championships will begin on April 16 with the top-4 seeds receiving first-round byes. Championship day will be April 19 with the winner earning an automatic bid into the NCAA West Regional. Three more teams will be selected by the NCAA selection committee to advance to regionals with the two winners earning a trip to Altamonte Springs, Florida for the 2025 NCAA Division II Women's Tennis National Championships on May 20-24.