No. 9 APU women’s tennis put the bow on a dominant regular season, defeating San Diego Christian University and Hawaii Pacific University to end their season 12-2.
The weekend began Friday afternoon at the Munson and Bavougian Tennis Complex, where the Cougars took on San Diego Christian to start. Coming off of a dominant 4-0 outing the prior weekend, the Cougars picked off right where they left off.
The quartet of Jacky Wagner, Carolyn Brooner, Anna Savchenko and Petra Ivankovic earned a sweep of the singles courts for the Cougars. Wagner began the onslaught at the No. 3 spot ending her contest in 6-0, 6-1 fashion. Brooner followed, continuing the theme and ending her No. 4 matchup 6-0, 6-2, which was her third straight singles victory. Savchenko sealed the victory for the Cougars at the No. 2, closing her match out at 6-1, 6-2. Finally, Ivankovic put the cherry on top, sweeping her match 6-0, 6-3.
Doubles play was no different for the Cougars as they set the tone early with Courtney Page and Madison Kane taking their matchup 6-1 at the No. 3 spot. Brooner and Wagner followed, capturing a 6-2 victory at the No. 2 spot. The sweep was clinched by Ivankovic and Savchenko, with the pair winning their match 6-2.
As Azusa Pacific had already secured the victory, Kane and Katia Betancourt each played pro sets in their matchups. Betancourt swept her set by a score of 8-0 while Kane kept her foot on the gas en route to an 8-2 win. These victories closed out the sweep for APU. Their dominance over San Diego Christian capped a third 7-0 sweep on the season for the Cougars.
The regular season came to a close Saturday afternoon at the Munson and Bavougian Tennis Complex. The Cougars entered the matchup as the underdogs, taking on the No. 7 Hawaii Pacific Sharks. The matchup was one that had heavy seeding implications for the PacWest Tournament.
The action began at the doubles games. The first Cougar pair to collect a victory was Wagner and Brooner. The two won by a score of 6-1, setting the tone early for the Cougars. Ivankovic and Savchenko followed, with the opportunity to secure the conquest. The pairing did just that, winning by a score of 6-2 at the No.1 spot.
The day heated up as the two top ten teams battled it out in the singles. The battle began at the No. 5 spot. Kane went back and in fourth in her match, coming back after being down in the first set 5-3 to win four straight games. She secured the first set 7-5 and dominated the set winning 6-2. At the No. 3 spot, Wagner’s set wasn’t smooth sailing either, as her first set finished 7-5 in her favor. She went on to sweep in the second set 6-0.
With the Cougars up 3-0, they hoped to clinch the match at the No. 4 spot. That task fell on Brooner. She took the first set 6-4 and had a comeback victory in set two. At the start of the second set, Brooner was down 6-3. She was able to battle back and eventually claim the victory in the tiebreak set at 7-6 (7-2).
Following Brooner’s victory, the Cougars celebrated as they secured the senior day victory against No. 7 Hawai’i Pacific. Four seniors were honored in the post-match celebration — Ivankovic, Savchenko, Wagner, and Page. The quartet has accounted for 34 wins thus far and was a part of the Cougar team who won the West Region in 2019, making an NCAA Nationals appearance.
The Cougars finished the 2021 regular season with a 12-0 record against Division II opponents, and they also went undefeated at home as well. APU will now enter the postseason, where they are set to play in the PacWest Tournament as the No. 1 seed. The tournament will take place in Surprise, Ariz. from April 21 until April 24.