AZUSA, Calif. -- Despite dropping a tightly contested doubles point, Azusa Pacific won all four completed singles matches to earn a 4-1 win over Fresno Pacific in the first round of the NCAA postseason on Friday at the Cougar Tennis Complex to advance to the NCAA Division II National Championships in Altamonte Springs, Florida, on May 17-20.

Azusa Pacific, which improves to 19-6, will be one of 16 teams from the eight regions in NCAA Division II that will be competing for a national title. The Cougars' last trip to the national championships was in 2019 where they reached the quarterfinals. Fresno Pacific finishes its season with a 16-10 record having qualified for the NCAA postseason for the first time in just its third season since restarting the program from scratch.

The Cougars took control of the match during singles by winning the first set on all six singles courts, starting with Eleonora Liga winning her first set against All-PacWest opponent Mariia Borodii at No. 1 singles. Borodii fought back to win the second set 6-0, which was the only singles set that the Sunbirds won in the match.

Madison Kane was facing Fresno Pacific's Lea Falentin at No. 2 singles for the second time this season and Kane won the match 6-4, 6-3 to give the Cougars their first point of the match. The next three points for Azusa Pacific all came within 10 minutes of each other to prevent the Sunbirds from having any chance at making a comeback.

Carolyn Brooner got the Cougars' second point at No. 4 singles with a 6-3, 6-1 win to improve her record this season to 13-6 with three wins over Fresno Pacific. April Wong finished her match at No. 3 singles just a minute later with a 6-1, 6-3 win to extend her winning streak to eight matches in a row, including the clinching victory of the PacWest Championships.

Katherine Nguyen remained one of the toughest players to beat in the PacWest right now with her 13th win in a row. She clinched the victory at No. 6 singles with a 6-1, 6-3 win. Nguyen served out the match to book Azusa Pacific's spot in the NCAA National Championships for the second time in program history.

Fresno Pacific won the dramatic doubles point with Sanne Brull and Alice Di Matteo clinching the point at No. 2 doubles in a tiebreak. At No. 1 doubles, Borodii and Falentin raced out to a 4-0 lead, while the Cougars got early leads at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. Azusa Pacific's No. 1 doubles pairing of Liga and Kane got both breaks back to tie the set at 5-5, while Brooner and Nguyen won 6-2 at No. 3 doubles.

At No. 1 doubles, Borodii and Falentin broke Kane's serve for a second time to survive a fierce comeback by the Cougars to even the doubles at 1-1. Borodii and Falentin finished the season with 13 doubles wins together for a total of 22 wins in dual matches over the last two years.

The last doubles match was forced into a tiebreaker, where Brull and Di Matteo took an early 3-0 lead, but the score was tied at the changeover. The Sunbirds retook the lead immediately and never surrendered it after that to win the set and take the doubles point with a 7-6(5) victory.

Azusa Pacific will find out next week where it lands in the draw for the national championships.