SURPRISE, Ariz. - For the first time, the Concordia University Irvine men's tennis team is heading to the PacWest Championship Match!
Led by the two Adams and the two Maxes, CUI defeated Point Loma for the third time this season and reserved its spot in the final match against the defending conference champions from Azusa Pacific.
CUI will now look to claim its first conference crown while trying to prevent the Cougars from winning the tournament for the fourth straight year.
Point Loma collected the doubles point in a bit of a surprise, but the bottom part of the lineup rose to the occasion to mitigate that early deficit.
Max Mueller raced to a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 5 singles to make it 1-1, and
Adam Kartzinel followed suit at the No. 6 spot, winning 7-5, 6-1.
Adam Large came up huge with a 6-4, 6-3 decision at the No. 3 position to give CUI a 3-1 advantage and after No. 1 singles went to Alexander Leischner of PLNU, it came down to
Felix Veyhle at No. 2 singles and
Max Renz at No. 4.
Renz emerged victorious with a tense 7-5, 7-5 victory over Finn Kirschner, and he was mobbed by his teammates after his final point clinched the semifinal match.
CLICK HERE for the updated Men's PacWest Bracket and Tourney Central
CUI is hoping the third time is the charm against APU, which won the previous two meetings this season by tight scores of 4-3. Game time is at 1 p.m. PT between the two top seeds on the men's side.
CLICK HERE for the full CUI men's tennis schedule
The CUI men's tennis squad also remains on track to make the upcoming NCAA DII Regional, with more info to be announced in the coming days on that front.
BACK ON TRACK
The CUI women bounced back from their quarterfinal loss to HPU with a big 4-0 win over Colorado Mesa in the consolation bracket.
The Golden Eagles won the double point thanks to a pair of grind-it-out victories at the top two positions. Sophie Rachor and Bryn Johnson clinched the point with a 6-2 decision.
CUI then secured victories quickly at the No. 6 and No. 4 spots with Kristyna Dvorakova (6-1, 6-2) and senior Alicia Da Re (6-1, 6-1) going in order. With CUI already up 3-0, Johnson sealed the Mavericks fate with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 win at No. 2 singles.
The ladies will close out the trip to Arizona in the fifth place game on Saturday morning against Dominican. That match begins at 9 a.m. PT.
CLICK HERE for the full CUI women's tennis schedule
CLICK HERE for the updated Women's PacWest Bracket and Tourney Central
