AZUSA, Calif. – For the second day in a row, Azusa Pacific women's tennis was locked into a marathon match but ultimately fell 4-3 against No. 10 Washburn after five hours and 10 minutes under the lights of the Munson & Bavougian Tennis Complex on Tuesday evening.
The match between the two nationally-ranked programs was moved up a day in anticipation of rain on Wednesday, giving the No. 18 Cougars no rest after a long battle the day before against NCAA Division I Pacific. The Ichabods also played the day before against Biola, meaning both teams were forced to empty their gas tanks in this critical out-of-region battle.
With the loss, the Cougars drop to 8-2 on the season, while the Ichabods, coached by former Azusa Pacific assistant coach Kirby Ronning, improve to 6-1. Washburn now leads the overall head-to-head against the Cougars 2-1.
Azusa Pacific opened the match strong, taking the doubles point.
Shannele Lopez and
Tina Moser partnered for a 6-2 win at No. 3 doubles, remaining the Cougars' most successful combination in the third doubles spot. Then
Julia Jordan and
Vini Bautista won 6-4 at No. 1 doubles to clinch the point. Bautista and Jordan, ranked No. 20 in the nation, beat the No. 6 team according to the ITA.
Only the top-4 singles matches took to the court initially since the men's tennis program was competing at the same time. The Ichabods evened the overall score of the match with Daniela Tijaro winning 6-2, 6-4 at No. 4 singles, and they even led briefly when Renske Ubachs won 6-1, 7-5 at No. 1 singles.
All the top-4 matches were determined in straight sets.
Stina Larsson played at No. 2 singles and won her match 6-1, 6-4, starting a new winning streak after her eight-match streak was snapped the day before. She is now 9-1 on the season which leads the team once again.
Jordan gave the Cougars a 3-2 lead going into the final two matches by winning 6-4, 7-5 at No. 3 singles. That meant Azusa Pacific needed just one of the final two matches in order to win the match, but Washburn showed that its depth in the roster is part of why the Ichabods are a top-10 team in NCAA Division II.
At No. 6 singles Peyton Koper won 6-3, 6-1 to tie the overall match. That left
Katherine Nguyen and Washburn's Jasel Bailey alone on court at No. 5 singles in a long battle, which was the only one that went three sets.
In the third set, the deuce points were going in favor of the Ichabod, but still Nguyen was able to earn 4-3 and 5-4 leads. She even came back from 0-40 to earn a match point at 5-4. However, that deuce point went to Bailey to make the match 5-all. Then on Bailey's second match point, she won another critical deuce point to take the match 7-5, 3-6, 7-5.
Azusa Pacific's schedule continues to be one of the toughest schedules of any PacWest team. Next, the Cougars will face Stanislaus State on Saturday at 10 a.m. The Warriors have only lost one match all year to a PacWest opponent and even beat PacWest defending champion Academy of Art on February 8.
