Sophomore Tomas Aranguiz fell 6-1, 6-1 in singles play to sophomore Clemens Graute in the 5-0 loss to Hawai’i Pacific in the PacWest Conference tournament. Photo credit: Kimberly Smith
The Azusa Pacific men’s tennis team came up just short in last weekend’s PacWest Conference tournament, finishing second behind Hawai’i Pacific at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Club in Surprise, Ariz. The Sea Warriors beat the Cougars 5-0 in the championship for their third such score of the tournament, improving their record to 19-0 on the season.
HPU took all three doubles matches from the Cougars to go up 3-0 before the final two singles matches. At No. 1 doubles, sophomore Jan Meyer and junior Gary Yam suffered their first loss as partners to senior Petr Michnev and sophomore Thibaud Berland by the score of 8-6. Senior Freddy Wilkens and sophomore Tomas Aranguiz fell at the No. 2 spot to sophomore Jaume Martinez-Vich and junior Mattis Wetzel by the score of 8-2, and the freshman duo of Alan Leahy and Pascal Engel fell 8-1 to juniors Adriano Locorotondo and Yann Renault.
Sophomore Clemens Graute of HPU defeated Aranguiz 6-1, 6-0 in singles play to put the Sea Warriors one win away from clinching the tournament. In the pivotal match, Wetzel took down Leahy 6-0, 6-0, for HPU’s second straight PacWest title.
Azusa Pacific closed the regular season with a 19-6 record, and will compete in the National Christian College Athletics Association championship tournament in Mobile, Ala., beginning Tuesday, May 6.
On the women’s side, Azusa Pacific fell 5-0 to 14th ranked Academy of Art in the third-place contest.
The Urban Knights swept the Cougars in doubles play. At No. 1 doubles, senior Emily Harris and freshman Natalie Johnson fell 8-4 to senior Daniela Amelunge and junior Nina Gajdosikova. Sophomore Lindsey Yeom and junior Danae Ingwaldson suffered an 8-4 loss to sophomore Lucia Zavarcikova and junior Jenny Johansson at the No. 2 spot and at No. 3, seniors Kim Koetterheinrich and Stephanie Quan lost 8-2 to freshman Annika Schneider and sophomore Michelle Dandik.
In singles, Amelunge got the first win for the Sea Warriors, 6-1, 6-1 against Koetterheinrich before Johansson got the clinching win at No. 6 singles, edging Azusa Pacific junior Bethany Duval 6-2, 6-1.
The women now look to compete in the same NCCAA championship tournament, May 6 in Mobile.