Freshman Pascal Engel won 6-1, 6-2 for his first win at No. 3 singles this season. His overall singles record is 11-6. Photo credit: Kimberly Smith
The Azusa Pacific men’s tennis team faced Hawai’i Hilo Saturday, March 29 and showed it did not dwell on the previous day’s tough loss to Fresno Pacific, putting on a strong performance and winning 8-1 against the Vulcans.
The Cougars’ only loss of the day came from No. 3 doubles. Sophomore Randall Hsieh played his first match of the season as sophomore Joseph Remington’s partner, but the duo fell to sophomore Spencer Travalino and junior Makoa Rosa, 8-3.
Senior Freddy Wilkens and sophomore Tomas Aranguiz earned an 8-2 win at No. 2 doubles against freshman Daniel Tada and junior Kallen Mizuguchi, and sophomore Jan Meyer and junior Gary Yam partnered at No. 1 for an 8-3 win over senior Tom Greer-Smith and sophomore Kainoa Rosa. Meyer and Yam currently hold a 4-0 record at the No. 1 spot.
Azusa Pacific’s top two singles players, Meyer and Wilkens, both earned their 15th wins of the season. No. 5-ranked Meyer defeated Greer-Smith 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 and No. 7-ranked Wilkens stretched his winning streak to 15 with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Rosa.
Freshman Alan Leahy evened his No. 4 singles record to 2-2 with his 6-1, 7-6 win over Travalino. Freshman Pascal Engel earned his first win at No. 3 singles, defeating Mizuguchi 6-1, 6-2 and freshman Sasha Kingsley made his Azusa Pacific debut at No. 6 singles with a spectacular outing, winning 6-0, 6-0. Aranguiz evened out his No. 5 singles record at 3-3 with the win over Tada, 6-0, 6-2.
Azusa Pacific now stands at a 13-4 record with four home matches to close the regular season. The team’s next matchup is Friday, April 4 against Point Loma. The match will begin at 1:30 p.m. at the Munson & Bavougian Tennis Complex.