Box Score AZUSA, Pacific – In the final test before getting the postseason campaign started, Azusa Pacific men's tennis showed arguably its best form all season in sweeping No. 32 Fresno Pacific with just one set dropped on Wednesday afternoon at the Munson & Bavougian Tennis Complex.
The ideal scenario for any collegiate athletics team is to be reaching the peak at the start of the PacWest Championships, so the Cougars' 7-0 win over Fresno Pacific is an ominous message to the rest of the PacWest. The reigning PacWest Team of the Week capped off Wednesday's win with a three-set victory for senior Albertus Du Plessis, who was playing in the final home match of the regular season.
The Cougars now have a 10-match winning streak and a 20-3 record completing a perfect regular season against PacWest foes. They will take that momentum into the PacWest Championships which begins next week at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Club on April 17-19.
Max Schmidhauser and Du Plessis entered the lineup for Senior Day and both players made the most of the opportunity, winning their respective matches to power the Cougars' sweep. Du Plessis won at No. 3 doubles alongside fellow senior
Miha Velicki, 6-3. Then in singles, Du Plessis finished the sweep with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 win in just under two hours.
Schmidhauser entered the match in singles and won against Emilio Seelbach at No. 5 singles, 6-4, 6-1. Schmidhauser is now 9-2 on the season, improving to 16-2 in his career at Azusa Pacific. The senior now has a four-match winning streak.
David James Brownlee and
Brody Bohren clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win, improving to 10-7 as a team this year. The win on Wednesday avenged a 7-5 loss earlier in the season against Martin Ramirez and Gregor Kliimask, as the Cougars No. 2 doubles team proved their progress over the course of the season.
In singles, Velicki snapped his own streak of three match-clinching wins, this time winning too fast. He defeated Ramirez 6-0, 6-4. The senior has now won five matches in a row and has won 37 career singles matches played at the Munson & Bavougian Tennis Complex.
Brownlee won his singles match 6-1, 6-4 at the No. 4 position just a minute before Schmidhauser secured the team victory. Then reigning PacWest Player of the Week
Soeren Grandke won at No. 2 singles, 6-2, 6-0, extending his winning streak to nine. He has now reached 20 singles wins in both of his years at Azusa Pacific.
Walter won his singles match against a fellow 2024 All-PacWest selection. He won convincingly 6-2, 6-4 against Ravi Nelson to improve to 7-0 in singles matches in his career against Fresno Pacific.
The draw for the PacWest Men's Tennis Championships will be announced next week. Azusa Pacific is expected to be the No. 1 seed and face Hawai`i Hilo in the first round. All matches at the PacWest Championships will be played not before 1 p.m. MT.
