LA MIRADA---The Biola men's tennis team had a huge 4-3 victory over nationally-ranked No. 12 Azusa Pacific at the Biola Tennis Center.
"I'm really happy for the guys," stated head coach
David Goodman. "They played a good match and fought through adversity. APU is a very strong team and always is a huge challenge for us. Great team win for BU."
After losing doubles, Biola showed incredible fight in singles play. Thiago Canessa (nationally-ranked No. 50) defeated his opponent 6-0, 7-5 to tie up the match (1-1). Adam Large finished next on the third court, winning 6-2, 7-5 to give Biola a 2-1 lead.
Alejandro Flores Monteverde (nationally-ranked No. 41) extended BU's lead to three with his win on the second court. He won his first set 7-2 in the tiebreak and the second 6-2.
The Eagles then took losses on court 1 and 5. Angel Guerrero Melgar (nationally-ranked No. 30) faced the sixth-best singles player in the nation and ended up losing after three tough sets. He lost the first set 2-6, won the second 6-3 and lost the third 1-6.
Pol Masafret Hernandez also lost a three-set battle on the fifth court. He got off to a hot start, winning the first set 6-2 but would lose the next two 3-6, 5-7.
With the score tied at 3-3, all eyes turned to the duel happening on the fourth court. Juan Vallejo faced APU's Van Craenenbroeck and would defeat him after two set tiebreaks. He won the first set tiebreak 7-3 and then the second set tiebreak 7-0 which clinched the match for BU (4-3).
During doubles, Biola lost 6-2 on the second court but battled back with a 6-4 victory on court 1. Flores Monteverde and Guerrero Melgar (nationally-ranked No. 5) defeated APU's nationally ranked No. 6 doubles pair 6-4. Biola lost a hard-fought battle on the third court 6-4. Mateo Rivas and Thiago Canessa played a great match against APU's Crespo and Marci.
BU improves 6-0 in the season while APU fell 4-4. The Eagles play next at Westmont College on Saturday, Feb. 28.
