Junior Danae Ingwaldson’s earned the fifth point for Azusa Pacific at No. 3 singles to guarantee a 7-2 win against UC San Diego on Saturday, April 11. Photo credit: Steven Mercado
The No. 13-ranked Azusa Pacific women’s tennis team early on sealed the fate of its match against No. 17-ranked UC San Diego after taking a 5-1 lead. Junior Danae Ingwaldson’s 6-2, 6-3 victory at No. 3 singles gave the Cougars their fifth win of the day as they finished the regular season strong with a 7-2 win Saturday, April 12.
APU began the day with senior Emily Harris and freshman Natalie Johnson improving their record to 6-0 as No. 1 doubles partners when they defeated sophomores Kyra Scott and Paula Chou 8-4. Sophomore Lindsey Yeom and Ingwaldson played well at the No. 2 doubles spot when they beat freshmen Nava Nowamooz and Shannon Theisen 8-2. Doubles play concluded with a battle at the No. 3 spot resulting in senior Tara Vanooteghem and junior Laura Wilke emerging victorious over seniors Kim Koetterheinrich and Stephanie Quan, 9-8, 7-3.
The Cougars jumped on the Tritons early in singles play. Johnson had a strong outing against Chou in winning 6-2, 6-1 and increasing her team-high total of singles wins to 18. Koetterheinrich then defeated sophomore Lisa Asai 6-2, 6-1 to improve her record to 12-5 and earn her eighth straight victory. Ingwaldson’s win at No. 3 singles boosted her past the .500 mark to an 11-10 record.
Quan fell to Vanooteghem 6-4, 6-2 in her second match at the No. 4 singles spot this season. APU closed the match with two more victories: Harris defeated Scott 6-4, 6-2 at the No. 1 spot and Yeom ended the day with a hard-fought three-set victory over Theisen (6-2, 6-7, 10-8).
Azusa Pacific ended the regular season with a 16-5 record. The Cougars will head into the Pacific West Conference tournament Thursday, April 17.