Azusa Pacific made an early statement with four victories (and no defeats), including a victory over co-preseason favorite Point Loma. Cougar #1 Stina Larsson led the way with a 4-0 singles mark for Player of the Week.

2026 Results/Schedule
2026 Standings
ITA National Poll

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Azusa Pacific's Stina Larsson, Soph., 5-6, Nora, Sweden                                
Azusa Pacific's Stina Larsson went 4-0 in singles to open the season and 3-1 in doubles to help the Cougars get off to a 4-0 start. Larsson, the 2025 PacWest Freshman of the Year, defeated UC Riverside’s Susannah Su 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, Bryn Johnson of Concordia (6-1, 6-3), Thea Donarski of Westmont (6-2, 6-0) and in a match between two of the conference’s top players, she topped Point Loma’s Alina Kupfer, 6-2, 7-5. In doubles, she partnered with Karola Suviste for three wins in four tries, losing only at Division I UC Riverside. Larsson and Suviste were the Fall West Region ITA Doubles champs.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Azusa Pacific Cougars                                                                                            
Azusa Pacific flew out of the gates to the 2026 season with four wins, including three over teams from the PacWest. The Cougars edged Division I UC Riverside (4-3), Concordia (6-1), Point Loma (5-2) and Westmont (7-0) to start the young season 4-0. Against UCR, Azusa lost the doubles point but roared back behind singles wins from Stina Larsson and Kimberly Tran (#5) in straight sets, and then clinched the match via three-set wins from Melis Mert at #6 (6-4, 2-6, 6-3) and Karola Suviste on court three, 4-6, 7-5, 6-0. In the win over the defending champion Sea Lions, APU fell behind early again by dropping the doubles point, but roared back behind a huge win on court one (Larsson over Alina Kuper, see above) along with victories on court two (Vini Bautista), court three (Suviste), court four (Shannele Lopez) and five (Tran). Tran went unbeaten to open the season in both singles and doubles. 

ITA NATIONAL RANKINGS: Azusa Pacific is ranked No. 15 in the January 14 ITA national poll, with Point Loma listed at No. 17. The next list arrives on February 18.

PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: Biola topped Concordia 6-1 highlighted by a comeback victory on court two by Ivet Stancheva over Kristyna Dvorakova, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 10-6…Westmont slipped by California Lutheran with Ellie Triplette clinching at #4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4…Fresno Pacific won a thriller over Menlo, 4-3, with the deciding point coming on court one where Fabiana Gonzalez edged Zofia Dziewiecka, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4…In other matches involving PacWest schools, Hawaii Pacific beat Chaminade (7-0), Dominican beat Jessup (7-0) and Stanislaus State defeated Jessup (7-0).

THIS WEEK: Biola and Dominican will travel to Hawaii this week where they will take on Hawaii Pacific (BU), Chaminade (DUC) and Hawaii Hilo (BU). The Penguins and Eagles will also take on each other on Oahu. Wednesday, CSU Los Angeles goes to Azusa Pacific, and on Friday Stanislaus State will be the site for matches against UC Davis for the Warriors and Menlo. Point Loma hosts Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (No. 5 Division III) on Friday and Westmont on Saturday.
To see the complete schedule, click here.