AZUSA, Calif. – Playing in the NCAA DII West Regional for just the second time in program history, the Concordia men's tennis team pushed Azusa Pacific to the fringe of an upset in their third meeting of the spring.
Despite putting forth a valiant effort, the Golden Eagles wound up finishing on the wrong end of a 4-2 decision that came down to the last two singles matches.
CUI jumped on the Cougars early and secured the doubles point by winning at the top two positions.
Recently named PacWest Freshman of the Year Alex Edmonston and
Julius Seifert locked down a 6-4 victory at No. 1 doubles.
That duo was Second Team All-Conference and showed why by improving to 11-2 together after a 10-game winning streak earlier this season.
Meanwhile
Leon Czarnikau and
Mike Jansen clinched the doubles point for CUI by claiming a 6-4 win at the No. 2 spot.
In singles play, the Cougars responded by moving ahead 2-1 with quick wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots.
After APU extended the lead to 3-1, Edmonston capped off a fantastic freshman campaign with a 6-4, 6-1 victory at No. 4 singles to draw CUI within 3-2.
The final two matches were up for grabs as both
James Caddies and
Adam Large split their first two sets. The two Golden Eagles dug in for the crucial third sets needing wins at both No. 5 and No. 6 singles to pull out the win.
Caddies won the opening set of his match. Large won the second set and was in a 3-2 slog in the third but it went unfinished after Cole Rassner was able to eke out a narrow victory over Caddies to push APU across the finish line.
APU advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 in Orlando, Florida with the victory.
CUI finishes its impressive season with ten victories and five All-Conference selections and a top four finish at the PacWest Conference Championships.
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