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Quentin Lau hits ball
Kyla McGuire
4
Winner No. 7 Azusa Pacific APU (4-1)
3
Biola University BU-MT (2-2)
Winner
No. 7 Azusa Pacific APU
(4-1)
4
Final
3
Biola University BU-MT
(2-2)

Match Recap: Men's Tennis | | Brandon Taylor, Assistant Sports Information Director

Classic Cornerstone Cup Tennis

Biola Men’s Tennis roared back against No. 7 Azusa Pacific in singles play and nearly won with the final match.


LA MIRADA, Calif. --- The Cornerstone Cup rivalry was on full display during Monday's men's tennis match between No. 7 Azusa Pacific and Biola. This year's meeting at the Biola Tennis Center took three and a half hours to decide and went all the way to a third-set tiebreaker in the final match with the dual match score tied 3-3. 

The Cougars came out on top in the tiebreaker to take the match. But the performance was Eagles' best against Azusa Pacific since Biola reinstated men's tennis as a varsity sport and will certainly stoke Head Coach David Goodman's group to look for a revenge win later this year. 

Monday's match started with the teams splitting the first two double decisions on courts one a two. Azusa Pacific got out first with the win on two, but Alexei Prokupchuk and Edwyn Ramos quickly finished their set shortly after to give the Eagles a fighter's chance at the doubles point on court three. 

APU ended up taking the doubles point with a 6-4 win at line No. 3 and went up 2-0 in the dual match with a straight-set singles win on court two. 

But that's when the Eagles roared back with massive efforts on singles courts three through six. The comeback started with Quentin Lau, who handled doubles specialist Ethan Smith by a 6-3, 6-3 score.

Then Derek James overcame his opponent's yells and fist pumps in the lead upto a second set win by playing a veteran's brand of solid tennis for a three-set victory. James simply let Leyton Bohren beat himself in the third set and took the opportunistic winner to win 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 for Biola's second point in the dual match. 

It was James' first singles victory against an APU opponent since he defeated Marnix Pluim 6-4, 6-4 almost three years ago (February 15, 2017). 

Andres Meneses then capitalized on the momentum generated by the crowd gathered around his won the final three games of his third set to take his singles match 6-2, 6-7, 6-4. Meneses proved that he was prepared for a third set in ways his opponent wasn't and continued to play crisp shots down the home stretch that gave him a number of winners on the way to his victory.

That third point for Biola put all the attention on court No. 4, where Edwyn Ramos had evened his match with a 6-3 win in the second set. Ramos and Jesse Haas played a heavyweight bout in that final third set, breaking each other once while mixing in highlight-worthy passing shots and serve-and-volley tennis.

Ramos carried the Eagles into a tiebreak by saving two match points on his serve down 5-6 in the set. The big moments only led Ramos to press more with hard forehands that shook Haas off his base. 

The players went back and forth with mini breaks in the tiebreaker and were even at 3-3 after six points. But Haas went on to take the breaker and the victory. 

The Eagles will look to rebound against another longtime rival on Thursday. Biola travels to Newport Beach to take on Concordia at 2 p.m. 
 
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