AZUSA, Calif. – Azusa Pacific men's tennis punched its ticket to Altamonte Springs, Florida, for the NCAA Division II Men's Tennis National Championships by beating Hawai`i Pacific 4-0 in a win that was not nearly as simple as the final score indicates on Friday afternoon in the final home match at the Munson & Bavougian Tennis Complex this season.
 
The entire Cougar lineup seemed to go through the highs and lows together over the course of three hours, starting strong in doubles and then struggling early in singles. However, No. 1 seed Azusa Pacific finished strong over the final hour and a half of the match to end up with a shutout victory over No. 4 seed Hawai`i Pacific.
 
Five of the six singles matches went the distance. In the end, David James Brownlee and then Soeren Grandke both came back from down a set in a pair of matches that mirrored each other to clinch the Cougars' fourth-consecutive NCAA West Regional victory.
 
By winning the NCAA West Regional match, the Cougars join No. 2 seed Concordia as the two teams representing the West Region at the NCAA National Championships in Sanlando Park on May 20-24. There will be a total of 16 teams in the draw for the national title. The Cougars are now 23-4, while Hawai`i Pacific closes its season with a 9-8 record.
 
"It was nice for the seniors, because it was senior day on top of being regionals," head coach Mark Bohren said after the win. "It was nice to send them off to a win. It's a big accomplishment for us to make it for nationals. It was a little bitter sweet being the last home match for the seniors, but it was great to send them out with a win."
 
The Sharks bounced back from a slow start in doubles by winning the first set in four of the singles matches. Jakub Beran came back from down a break at No. 2 singles to win a marathon opening set 7-5 and give the Sharks a lead on four courts. The momentum had clearly shifted in favor of the Sharks, who had carved out a path to getting four points.
 
At the two-hour mark in the match, things drastically began to change in the Cougars' favor. At one point, the Cougars led in the second set on all six courts, holding a break on five of them.
 
"All the first sets were competitive," Bohren said. "We started slow on a couple courts, but it was going to be a battle no matter what. In the end, we were able to turn it around. We got a lot of experienced guys, and it was nice to finish strong. I thought we finished strong, and at least today we were the better team."
 
Miha Velicki's match at No. 3 singles bucked the back-and-forth trend of all the other matches. Velicki won easily and quickly in a rematch against Adam Vasir, 6-1, 6-3 for his first career win in the regional round. The Cougars' veteran went 3-0 on the season in singles matches against Hawai`i Pacific.
 
Grandke, Brownlee, Joan Crespo, and Max Schmidhauser all came back to take the second set. Then the Sharks' Mile Matic broke Elias Emilio Walter late in the second set to make it one set apiece at No. 1 singles as well. All five remaining matches began their third sets at nearly the same time.
 
Crespo and Schmidhauser, who were playing on adjacent courts, both broke early and earned commanding leads in their matches. Grandke and Brownlee also earned breaks and consolidated, while Walter remained on serve at No. 1 singles with Matic.
 
Schmidhauser grabbed a double break lead and then Crespo and Brownlee both led 5-2 with one break at the same time. Brownlee then got a second break to secure his match at No. 4 singles, 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 in an impressive comeback. Brownlee had lost to Finnegan Heber in straight sets in Surprise, but the freshman showed his resilience on Friday and won 12 of the last 14 games.
 
"I had a lot of conversations with DJ. He's a freshman and he has had to play in some tough matches, and he got a big win today," Bohren said. "All the guys on the team want to get better, and they listen which was nice for a coach."
 
The match got more complicated as Schmidhaser and Crespo's leads both began to shrink. They never trailed but the Cougars' best chance for clinching became No. 2 singles, where Grandke led 5-3 in the third set. Grandke broke serve for the fifth time in two sets and won his match 5-7, 6-0, 6-3, a very similar score to Brownlee.
 
"Soeren is learning how to play manage himself over the course of three sets, not that it was a problem before but it is becoming a strength for him," Bohren said. "He's already super talented but tennis is a big mental sport, and he has shown that he is willing to listen and take some advice. Today, when things didn't go his way, he didn't panic and just kept working hard."
 
For Grandke, it is his 15^th win in a row as he improves to 24-2 in singles on the season. He also finishes the season undefeated against PacWest opponents since facing his teammate Walter in the final of the Fall ITA West Regional. The Cougars led or were tied in all remaining matches with Crespo leading 6-5 on serve, Schmidhauser leading 4-3 with a break, and Walter tied 4-all in their respective third sets.
 
Azusa Pacific reached the NCAA West Regional for the 10^th time in a row and will advance to the final 16 for the sixth time overall and fourth time in a row. This was the Cougars' 10^th all-time win in the NCAA postseason, which passes Hawai`i Hilo for the third most in PacWest history. They also tie Hawai`i Pacific for the most NCAA postseason wins since 2017 by a PacWest team.
 
In doubles, the Cougars gave themselves an important early advantage. The last time the two teams faced, Hawai`i Pacific took the first point by winning at No. 1 doubles in a tiebreaker. This time, however, the Cougars' duo of Walter and Grandke defeated the No. 47 team in the country quickly, 6-1.
 
Hawai`i Pacific then won at No. 2 doubles 6-2, putting the pressure on Brody Bohren and Brownlee at No. 3 doubles. They won the decisive doubles set 6-2 to grab the first point.
 
"The doubles was a big point of emphasis," Mark Bohren said. "We struggled in Surprise so we made some adjustments, and we finally got the point, which was super important. It gives us some confidence going into nationals."
 
The Cougars will now wait to see where they land in the draw at the NCAA National Championships. The 16 teams that qualify will all be seeded by the NCAA national ranking committee. In the ITA rankings, the Cougars sit at No. 6 in the nation currently.