Azusa Pacific flew out of the men’s tennis gates with three wins to earn Team of the Week honors. David James Brownlee went unblemished in three singles and three doubles matches to earn Player of the Week.

2026 Results/Schedule
2026 Standings
ITA National Poll

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Azusa Pacific's David James Brownlee, Soph., 6-0, Claremont, Calif.                        
Sophomore David James Brownlee didn’t drop a match on the singles or doubles courts to help his Azusa Pacific squad to a 3-0 mark to start 2026. Playing on singles court two, the local product went three sets to defeat UC Riverside’s Ivaylo Simeonov, 6-2, 0-6, 6-4, topped Westmont’s Diego De Cooman in a close bout 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) and clipped Point Loma’s Finn Kirschner, 6-4, 6-3. In doubles play on court two, Brownlee teamed with Viktor Van Craenenbroek to win all three matches to complete the 6-0 start to his season.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Azusa Pacific Cougars                                                                                            
Azusa Pacific opened the 2026 season in impressive fashion with wins over Division I UC Riverside (5-2), Point Loma (6-1) and Westmont (7-0). David James Brownlee didn’t drop a singles or doubles match on court two during the start (see above), and the Cougars also received impressive play on the top courts from Soeren Grandke who won all three singles matches and was 2-1 in doubles. In the closest match against UC Riverside, Mathys Pinoi helped secure the team win with a 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 singles win on court three.

ITA NATIONAL RANKINGS: Azusa Pacific is ranked No. 9 in the January 14 ITA national poll, with the next listing scheduled for February 18.

PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: Hawai`i Pacific and Hawai`i Hilo squared off in two nail bitters on the Big Island, with the Sharks taking both matches by a 4-3 count. In the first meeting, HPU won the doubles point but the Vulcans won on singles courts one and two behind Jaime Paquet and Max Solano. The match ultimately came down to court six, where HPU’s Rene Gabriel Jung outlasted Matthieu Wehner, 1-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2. On Sunday, it was another 4-3 verdict with HPU again winning the doubles point and UH Hilo taking the top two singles courts behind Paquet and Solano. Three other matches went three sets, with Jung topping Wehner again (6-4, 3-6, 6-3) and Hilo’s Iori Furuhata taking out HPU’s Arthur Pery, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1. The match came down to court three, where Adam Vasir clipped Filippo Di Perna, 6-1, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2. The two teams will meet again this Saturday on Oahu…Menlo won a classic battle with Fresno Pacific, 4-3 in Atherton. The Sunbirds won the doubles point, the Oaks won the on the top two singles courts including at #1 with Robin McAlpine topping Cedric Kaufmann, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1. Ultimately, it came down to court six where Robinson Pelluault rallied for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over Joaquin Salinas Beltran…Before falling to Azusa Pacific on Monday, Westmont won three matches with victories over Whittier (7-0), California Lutheran (7-0) and Hope International (5-2)…Biola won twice with triumphs over Ottawa (7-0) and Stanton (6-1).

THIS WEEK: Biola will travel to Hawaii this week where they will take on Hawaii Pacific and Hawaii Hilo. On Friday Point Loma hosts Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (No. 4 Division III) and Fresno Pacific travels to Division I St. Mary’s. On Saturday, Hawaii Hilo travels to Hawaii Pacific for a rematch and Westmont goes to Point Loma. To see the complete schedule, click here.