IRVINE, Calif. – There are just three weeks left in the regular season for men’s and women’s tennis before the PacWest Championships begin on April 21 in Surprise, Arizona, where the 12 women’s teams and eight men’s teams will compete for the conference title.
 
Teams are also competing for a spot in the NCAA West Regional, which will begin on May 9 with the top four men’s and women’s teams from the PacWest qualifying with a shot to earn a spot in the Elite Eight. The battle for those top four spots will be competitive, especially on the women’s side, and what happens in the final three weeks will have big implications on postseason qualification.
 
Men
MSU Denver got its first chance to face PacWest teams as a member of the PacWest so far this year, and the Roadrunners competed well with some of the top teams in the conference. MSU Denver dropped its first match of the trip 5-2 against Azusa Pacific, which had dominant performances from each of the top-4 singles players. However, the next day, MSU Denver got its first win over a PacWest opponent with a narrow 4-3 win against Biola. Jeanloup Auzias won the clinching match 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 at No. 6 singles for the historic victory. Point Loma won the final match of MSU Denver’s trip 6-1, including a narrow 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(3) win at No.  singles for David Strassburger.
 
Point Loma went on to defeat NCAA Division I opponent Portland State 4-3 on Friday. Yuki Okamoto was back in the lineup for the first time in two weeks and he helped the Sea Lions get the doubles point, partnering with Tyler Davis for a 6-2 win at No. 1 doubles.
 
In the final match of the week, Azusa Pacific earned a 4-0 win over Biola. The Cougars top-4 singles players didn’t drop a set in singles or doubles in three matches last week. In fact, the quartet of Jakob Schnaitter, Sam Sippel, Ryan Nuno and Leyton Bohren have only dropped two sets in singles and one in doubles all year against PacWest opponents.
 
Women
The four PacWest teams in southern California have not lost to a PacWest team from outside their region this season, and that remained the case as Azusa Pacific, Biola, Concordia and Point Loma each got past MSU Denver in their first meetings as PacWest opponents. Then on Saturday, the four teams in southern California took each other on.
 
Azusa Pacific hosted Biola and got its sixth win against a PacWest team, 5-2, to remain undefeated against conference opponents. Jacky Wagner won her match at No. 3 singles, 6-1, 6-1. In seven matches against NCAA Division II opponents, Wagner has not lost more than four games in any set.
 
Concordia and Point Loma both beat MSU Denver and NCAA Division I Portland State before battling each other for their third win of the week. Concordia won that match 4-1 for their fifth-consecutive win. In the win, Ghazal Pakbaten made her long-awaited return after three weeks without playing. The Eagles No. 1, who over the course of her career has been one of the most clutch players in the conference, was in her usual form, winning a tough match against Point Loma’s Angelique Friedrich, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. Rebekah Anderson, after an impressive run as Concordia’s No. 1 singles player, returned to the No. 2 slot, where she continued her dominance with a 6-3, 6-1 victory.
 
With Azusa Pacific undefeated against PacWest teams this year and Concordia back to full strength, Saturday’s match between the two programs at Azusa Pacific will have a lot of implications for the rest of the season. The Cougars have won all 11 matches that the two programs have played against each other since Concordia joined the PacWest, but their meeting on March 12 was the closest of those 11 matches.
 
Weekly awards for the week of March 22-28
 
MEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ryan Nuno, Azusa Pacific
Jr. – Sylmar, Calif.
Nuno went undefeated in doubles and only dropped one set in doubles in the month of March to help the Cougars to a 10-1 record as a team. Last week, he won all nine sets he played between singles and doubles and only once lost more than two games in any set. Nuno opened the week with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Mateo Besada from MSU Denver. He also added an impressive win over Biola’s Antonio Varona who has played as high as No. 2 singles for the Eagles. Nuno won that match 6-4, 6-1 for his third straight-sets victory of the week. In doubles, he has played with Sam Sippel all year and the duo has won nine sets in a row.
 
WOMEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Colbeyshae Emery, Biola
Fr. – Ventura, Calif.
Emery went undefeated in singles last week in three matches, leading Biola to a pair of wins. Emery opened the week with a decisive 6-0, 6-0 win over MSU Denver’s No. 1 Brooklyn Ross. She backed that up with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Westmont’s top singles player two days later. On Saturday, Emery got a rematch against Petra Ivankovic, who had won the last meeting and was undefeated this year against NCAA Division II opponents. Emery fought her way through the first set and won it 7-6(4) in the road match. Emery then broke early in the second set and took a 4-2 lead before Ivankovic had to retire from the match with an injury. Emery is now 8-1 this year against NCAA Division II opponents and a key part of Biola’s 11-3 start to the season.
 

PREVIOUS PACWEST PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
DATE	MEN	WOMEN
Feb. 16	Martin Soukal, UHH	Halle Romero, CMU
Feb. 23	Yassine Smiej, CUI	Amanda Letzring, PLNU
March 2	Isaac Cordova, BU	Mariia Borodii, FPU
March 9	Jakob Schnaitter, APU	Lilly McNeil, BU
March 16	Jandre van Wyk, CMU	Petra Ivankovic, APU
March 22	Yassine Smiej, CUI	Sofia Ragona, ART U
March 29	Ryan Nuno, APU	Colbeyshae Emery, BU