AZUSA, Calif. – Azusa Pacific has somehow made exciting and edge-of-your-seat matches into a regular formula for victory.
For the seventh time this season, Azusa Pacific earned a 4-3 win, this time beating Point Loma for the second time this season with the help of
Miha Velicki's come-from-behind win at No. 3 singles to clinch a Saturday afternoon victory at the Munson & Bavougian Tennis Complex.
It was a great day for the Azusa Pacific men's tennis program, beginning with alum Jakob Schnaitter reaching his first career ATP Tour final in the doubles draw in Bucharest's ATP 250 event. Then on the other side of the world, the Cougars held off a strong challenge from Point Loma with strong singles play.
Azusa Pacific is now 19-3 on the season, beating No. 26 Point Loma, which drops to 10-5. This completes the regular season sweep for the Cougars but the two teams could meet again later this month at the PacWest Championships with both teams in position to earn top-3 seeds.
For the second time, Point Loma won the doubles point. The No. 21 doubles team of
Elias Emilio Walter and
Soeren Grandke won at No. 1 doubles against the No. 34 team in the nation, 6-2. Still Point Loma won the other two doubles sets, 7-5, overcoming a 1-4 deficit at No. 3 doubles.
The Cougars found themselves in a familiar situation, and last time, they responded by winning each of the top-4 singles spots for a 4-3 win. Well, Azusa Pacific followed a similar formula, winning the opening set at No. 1, 2, 4, and 5 singles to take a strong position in the match.
At No. 3 singles,
Miha Velicki came back to win his second set and
Brody Bohren then did the same at No. 6 singles, to put a significant barrier to any Sea Lion path to victory. Point Loma's Finn Kirschner won his second set at No. 4 singles, 6-4, to keep the pressure on the Cougars.
Grandke got the Cougars on the board with his 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 2 singles over Niclas Goltz. Then
Joan Crespo used a run of six games in a row that spanned from the end of the first set to the middle of the second to collect a 7-5, 6-2 win over David Fisinger at No. 5 singles.
Walter's rematch with Alexander Leischner was more tightly contested than the first, but the battle of former PacWest Players of the Year once again resulted in a straight-sets victory for Walter. That put the Cougars within a single point of victory as the three remaining matches all embarked on a third set.
It was Velicki who pushed the Cougars across the finish line with his 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 3 singles in yet another clinching victory for the Cougars' senior. Velicki has now won four matches in a row and three of the last four deciding sets he has played.
Kirschner went on to win for Point Loma at No. 4 singles, and Elias Weeks did the same at No. 5 singles to make the final score 4-3. Azusa Pacific will conclude the regular season on Wednesday at home at 1:30 p.m. against Fresno Pacific. The Cougars won the last meeting with the Sunbirds 4-3.
