UPDATED BRACKET and CHAMPIONSHIP PAGE
SURPRISE, Ariz.—It’s a three-peat for the Azusa Pacific men’s tennis team.
For the third consecutive year, the APU Cougars have won the Pacific West Conference Tennis Championship. Also for the third April in a row, the Cougars topped a very game Hawai`i Pacific Shark squad in the final, this time 4-2 at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Center.
Still unbeaten on the season, now 22-0, the Cougars have earned the PacWest’s automatic berth into the NCAA tournament, to be held in early May. Hawai`i Pacific, now 12-5, is expected to get an at-large berth in the announcement that will be made on May 6.
In each of their last three title runs, the script has been slightly different. Today, the Cougars took the doubles point by winning on court one after the Sharks and APU split on the other two courts. On serve at 6-5, the HPU tandem of Jakub Beran and Mile Matic were finally broken for the set and the team doubles point by Elias Emilio Walter and Miha Velicki for the final tally of 7-5.
In singles, the Cougars picked up two fairly quick wins, both of them at exactly the same time. Walter won on court one over Robin Sanz (6-3, 6-2) and Constantin Barth was a victor on court five over Paul Johannes, 6-4, 6-2. That made it 3-0 Cougars, but the match was far from over.
Adam Vasir kept the Sharks alive with a win on court six (6-3, 6-4) over Brody Bohren, and about ten minutes Beran won a battle on court two against Velicki 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 to draw the Sharks within 3-2. That left two matches still on court on a 90-degree day, both of them in the third set.
The clincher came for the Cougars on court four, where Soeren Grandke dropped the first set but rallied back for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory over Jim Walder, sending his teammates into celebration. Cole Rassner (APU) and Matic (HPU) were left unfinished after splitting sets.
Walter was named the tournament Most Valuable Player, after going 3-0 during the three days in singles and 3-0 in doubles. Walter, also the PacWest regular season Most Outstanding Player, is now 22-0 on the season in singles, having won 19 of those matches in straight sets.
In today’s other matches, Biola defeated Concordia for third place (4-3), Point Loma topped Fresno Pacific for fifth place (4-0) and Hawaii Hilo defeated MSU Denver for seventh (4-0).
SATURDAY CHAMPIONSHIP
#1 Azusa Pacific 4 vs. #2 Hawaii Pacific 2
THIRD PLACE
#3 Biola 4, #5 Concordia 3
FIFTH PLACE
#4 Point Loma 4, #6 Fresno Pacific 0
SEVENTH PLACE
#7 Hawaii Hilo 4, #8 MSU Denver 0
TOURNAMENT MVP: Elias Emilio Walter, Azusa Pacific
TOURNAMENT SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD: Ben Cronau, Fresno Pacific
THIRD PLACE—BIOLA 4, CONCORDIA 3
In a battle between two squads hoping to get an at-large berth into the NCAA tournament, the Golden Eagles claimed the doubles point to get things started with 6-3, 6-2 wins. But Biola roared back in singles play pretty quickly with a win on court six from Santino Serralonga (6-2, 6-1) and court two behind Alejandro Flores (6-3, 6-1). Biola also won on court five when Patricio Larrea defeated Adam Kartzinel, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 to make it 3-1. CUI then mounted its own rally by winning on court one with Mattis Le Montagner defeating Nico Ramirez, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 and the Golden Eagles tied it with a victory on four with Spencer Cinco’s three-set comeback victory over Callen Hein, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. With the match tied at 3-3, the Eagles got the clinch on three with Adrian Solorzano’s comeback win over Maximillian Renz, 6-7, 6-0, 6-2. Both teams will now await the NCAA selection announcement on May 6. Biola is now 16-8 and Concordia is 13-11.
FIFTH PLACE—POINT LOMA 4, FRESNO PACIFIC 0
Point Loma was the first team off the court today with a 4-0 win over Fresno Pacific. The Sea Lions (13-8) are also still in contention for a postseason berth. Point Loma won on court one and two in doubles and then gathered its singles point on court one behind 2023 PacWest Player of the Year Alexander Leischner’s 6-2, 6-3 win. Matt Melosch picked up another Sea Lion point on court four (6-1, 6-4) and Lukas Schuster did the same at No. 6 to clinch the match. The Sunbirds season ends at 6-10.
SEVENTH PLACE—HAWAII HILO 4, MSU DENVER 0
The Vulcans ended their year on a high note with a 4-0 win over the Roadrunners. UH Hilo earned the doubles point with wins on courts one and two with 6-2 and 6-1 wins, and then cruised two three fairly quick singles matches. Ryo Minakata won on court one (6-1, 6-3), Cian McDonnell won on court two (6-4, 6-4) and Luca Matheiowetz triumphed on court four (6-2, 6-0). The Vulcans end their season at 7-9, while the Roadrunners wrapped up at 9-14.