By JACOB NORLING
WESTMONT SPORTS WRITER
AZUSA — The Westmont men’s and women’s tennis teams went head-to-head with the NCAA Div. II Azusa Pacific Cougars on Friday, with APU taking both matches against the Warriors.
In the men’s match, Westmont (6-7) was unable to keep up with APU (12-4) from the jump, dropping the doubles point and three consecutive singles matches in a 4-0 final.
In doubles, Leyton Bohren and Miha Velicki bested Logan Thompson and Ethan Ha (6-4) on one, and Elias Emilio Walter and Vili Boney defeated Owen Vander Ark and Benny Saito (6-1) on three.
In singles, the clubs played to clinch, with Marko Nikoliuk defeating Cody Ray Emery on two, Velicki defeating Vander Ark on four, and Boney defeating Saito on six.
“We came out a little bit flat in doubles,” said Westmont head coach Mark Basham. “They had three really powerful doubles teams, and we just didn’t play our best. In singles, Preston Hastings did a great job winning the first set on five, and overall our guys fought really hard to try and get back in each of their seconds.
“Both Logan and Ethan both won their second set, and Cody Ray got stronger in his second set as well. Owen played quite well also, and same with Benny. All in all, it was a good performance, but I would have liked to see us start better. I also would have liked to see Logan, Ethan and Preston finish their matches to see how it might have ended up, but regardless, it was an OK day.”
In the women’s match, the Warriors (2-11) shared a similar fate against the Cougars (14-4), with APU ultimately coming away with a 4-0 victory. In doubles, Eleonora Liga and Madison Kane defeated Liska Knight and Arden Samuels on one (6-1), and Vini Bautista and Miruna Tudor defeated Logan Jacson and Sabina Salva on two (6-0).
In singles, April Wong defeated Salva on two, Tudor defeated Justie Spitzer on four, and Katia Betancourt defeated Jackson on six.
“Even though it was a disappointing score, I’m not disappointed in how we played,” said Westmont head coach Cade Pierson. “We want to change this tune, but once again, we came in with people out and people sick. This has happened in more matches that it hasn’t, and it’s gotten old.
“We’re believing that this is one of the ways the Lord is growing us and teaching us how to adapt. Hopefully, we can also learn to overcome these circumstances as well.
“As far as tennis goes, APU played better than we did. They’re a solid, polished team, and when they got the momentum they kept. We would have had to play really well in order to compete, and it just wasn’t our day.”
Pierson continued, “Individually, Arden was having a really good singles match. She dropped the first set, but was close in the second, Sophia was also competing as well. Kailey Houshmand was also in a good match, probably the closest we had.
“I’m very proud of Kaley, and it was great to see her playing with more confidence, with more movement coming off of her injuries.
“Even in the face of adversity, it was great to see everyone have a great attitude. We’ve had a tough schedule, but our desire and energy to keep growing is there, and there’s enough season ahead to make those improvements. I’m encouraged by the belief our team has that we can play at this level.”
Westmont’s men return to action on Saturday at 11 a.m. with a road match against Concordia Irvine, while Westmont’s women return to play on Tuesday at 1 p.m. when they host Williams.
Jacob Norling is the sports information assistant at Westmont College.
email: sports@newspress.com
