Senior Freddy Wilkens scored the first point in singles for the Cougars after the team lost two of three doubles sets against the Mustangs on Monday, March 10. Photo credit: Steven Mercado
The No. 11-ranked Azusa Pacific men’s tennis team faced Western New Mexico for the second time this season on Monday, March 10 and the Mustangs gave the Cougars a good challenge, different from their 9-0 loss on Saturday, Feb. 15. Western New Mexico pushed the match to a 3-3 tie before APU pulled away. Cougar freshman Pascal Engel’s win clinched the 5-4 victory for Azusa Pacific.
Sophomore Tomas Aranguiz and freshman Alan Leahy started the day with an 8-2 win over freshman Sascha Brechtel and junior Omar Lopez at No. 3 doubles. The Mustangs answered with junior Juan Pablo Fuentes and senior Rodrigo Almeida’s win over sophomore Jan Meyer and Engel at No. 1 and senior Francisco Damasio and junior Alvaro Nunez’s victory over senior Freddy Wilkens and junior Gary Yam at No. 2 to take the lead in the match, 2-1. The Mustangs won both doubles sets with a 9-7 score.
Wilkens responded at No. 2 doubles with the 6-1, 6-1 win over Nunez. No. 7-ranked Meyer followed by defeating Almeida, 6-0, 6-2 to regain the lead of the match, 3-2.
The Mustangs then tied up the match when Fuentes defeated Aranguiz at No. 3 singles, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).
The Cougars answered at No. 4 singles with Leahy defeating freshman Jean-Laurent Pageault 6-2, 6-4 and at No. 5 singles with Engel’s match-clinching 6-1, 6-4 victory over Damasio. Junior Gary Yam lost the final set at No. 6 singles against Brechtel, 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 10-7.
With the win, Azusa Pacific now holds a 10-2 record. The Cougars’ next match is against Emory (Ga.) and will be the second of a three-match week. The match is set to start at the normal 1:30 p.m. time at the Munson & Bavougian Tennis Complex.