Box Score AZUSA, Calif. — Biola Men's Tennis got its first taste of NCAA postseason competition on Tuesday at Azusa Pacific. Although the result was not quite what the Eagles were hoping for, the experience is sure to leave BU longing for more.

The Eagles and Cougars played one of the most intense back-and-forth matches of the season with a singles segment dripping with drama following a relatively pedestrian doubles matchup.

The hosting Cougars, fresh off winning the PacWest Championship two weeks ago, won the doubles point and took three of the first four singles matches to close in order to advance to the NCAA Division II Championships in Florida with a 4-1 win.

The final score is not indicative of just how close the action was as both of the two remaining singles matches were in a third set and four of the six total singles affairs went into three, many requiring extra games or tiebreakers along the way.

The ultimate clinching contest was the one to watch as it was as high-level as you could ask for in a Division II match. Biola's Alexei Prokopchuk and APU's Samuel Sippel, both All-PacWest players, played out a thrilling third set after Prokopchuk won the first set 6-2 and Sippel answered with a dominant 6-0 answer in the second.

After trading victories through the first six games of their third set, Alexei took a 5-3 lead with back-to-back victories. After that, Sippel won the next game and then the men played to deuce in three-straight games to eventually see the set work its way to 6-6 and force a winner-takes-all tiebreaker.

Just before the tiebreaker, Prokopchuk had his back up against the wall staring at a match point for Sippel down 6-5 and sitting at deuce. He won the rallies needed to force the tiebreaker and end an impressive run of wins from his opponent.

He kept that momentum going by winning the first point of the tiebreaker, but Sippel then earned two wins in a row to take the advantage at 2-1. Unfortunately, Alexei would never again hold the lead, despite forcing a tie at 2-2, 4-4 and 5-5. Sippel won the last two rallies to clinch a 7-5 tiebreaker win and take the third set, 7-6. 

This clinched the win and the advance for the Cougars.

Biola had a chance to win at No. 3 singles as Antonio Rosales Varona won his first set (also in a wild tiebreaker) and was about to begin a third. Callen Hein was battling in a third set as well when the match was clinched. He overcame a 7-5 loss in his first set with a big 6-3 victory in the second to extend his lifeline.

Biola's one official match win came at the No. 6 spot where Isaac Cordova earned a three-set (6-2; 2-6; 6-4) decision. Cordova never trailed in the third set as he earned his 10th and final singles victory of 2022.

Biola's season comes to a close. It was a historic one with BU setting its program-best for victories and making its first national postseason appearance. The Eagles, under Biola Coach of the Year David Goodman, secure an 18-9 final record.