AZUSA, Calif. -- NAIA No. 7-ranked Point Loma Nazarene ended the GSAC portion of their schedule with a 5-4 upset win over fourth-ranked Azusa Pacific at the Munson & Bavougian Tennis Complex Wednesday. PLNU bumps up to 14-7 overall with 9-4 in GSAC while Azusa falls to 15-5 overall and 10-3 in GSAC.
Doubles lead off this match with two of the three landing with Loma. It didn't look so good at first, with No. 1 team Joel Myers and KC Ensley losing 8-4. But then the lower ladder stepped it up with No. 2 team Tyler Bowman and Diego Tavera winning 8-5 and No. 3 team DJ Jaehnig and Angel Tavera finally emerging victorious with 8-6.
Singles followed and, though the first point was Green and Gold's, Azusa did make a comeback. Myers took the first singles point of the day, winning in straight sets over Azusa's No. 1 Janosch Apelt 6-1, 6-3. However, Azusa responded by taking wins on courts three and five, with No. 3 Ensley going down 6-0, 6-2 and No. 5 Jaehnig falling by the same score.
Though the Cougars were up 4-3 the next two points went to the Sea Lions, handing PLNU the win. Mike Zablan cruised on six, 6-2, 6-1 with the clinching point coming on court four where Diego Tavera won in straight sets 6-4, 6-1.
Next up for PLNU is the Ojai Tournament. The event begins on Thursday and runs through the weekend.
#7 Point Loma Nazarene 5, #4 Azusa Pacific 4
04/27/11 at Azusa, Calif. (Munson & Bavougian Tennis Complex)
| Singles competition |
| 1. MYERS, Joel (PLNU) def. APELT, Janosch (APU) 6-1, 6-3 |
| 2. HOEFNAGELS, Jochem (APU) def. BOWMAN, Tyler (PLNU) 5-7, 6-3, 10-6 |
| 3. EGER, Benedikt (APU) def. ENSLEY, KC (PLNU) 6-0, 6-2 |
| 4. TAVERA, Diego (PLNU) def. HOUGH, Whitman (APU) 6-4, 6-1 |
| 5. IKONNIKOV, Ilja (APU) def. JAEHNIG, DJ (PLNU) 6-0, 6-2 |
| 6. ZABLAN, Michael (PLNU) def. WILKENS, Frederik (APU) 6-2, 6-1 |
| Doubles competition |
| 1. APELT, Janosch/HOEFNAGELS, Jochem (APU) def. ENSLEY, KC/MYERS, Joel (PLNU) 8-4 |
| 2. BOWMAN, Tyler/TAVERA, Diego (PLNU) def. HOUGH, Whitman/IKONNIKOV, Ilja (APU) 8-5 |
| 3. JAEHNIG, DJ/TAVERA, Angel (PLNU) def. EGER, Benedikt/WILKENS, Frederik (APU) 8-6 |
| Match Notes |
| Point Loma Nazarene 15-7, 10-4 GSAC; National ranking #7 |
| Azusa Pacific 15-6, 10-4 GSAC; National ranking #4 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,3,5,6,4,2) |
| Official: Emmanuel Howard T-2:53 A-55 |
