Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 0
MOBILE, Ala. -- Different year. Different round. Same result.
In a re-match of last year’s national semifinal, top-seed Azusa Pacific swept past eighth-seeded Embry-Riddle (Fla.), 5-0, in the quarterfinals of the 2004 NAIA Men’s Tennis Championships.
Azusa Pacific also won last year’s semifinal match by a 5-3 score.
With the victory, the Cougars advance to the semifinals for the second straight year and also move to 30-1 on the season, the first 30-win campaign in program history. Embry-Riddle ends its season at 16-8.
The Cougars, who are looking for their first national championship in men’s tennis after a runner-up finish last year, face a familiar foe in the tomorrow’s semifinals. Azusa Pacific battles fourth-seed Vanguard, a team the Cougars have defeated 3 times this season, at 1 p.m. (CST). The Cougars defeated the Lions by 7-2 and 6-3 scores during the season, and then they swept a 5-0 decision 3 weeks ago in the NAIA Region II championship.
In today’s match, Azusa Pacific swept through all 3 doubles’ matches in convincing fashion to take a 3-0 lead and forcing a situation where the Cougars needed to win just 2 singles’ matches.
As was the case yesterday, the Cougars’ bottom portion of the line-up came through. Gordon Hong knocked off Danny Arkins (6-2, 6-1) at No. 5, and Tom Jelsma defeated Jerry Ward (6-0, 6-0) at No. 6 to clinch the match. The Cougars were leading each of the other 4 matches when the match was halted.
Second-seed Auburn-Montgomery (Ala.) battles sixth-seed Georgia Southwestern in the other semifinal.
Singles
1 - Sam Fletcher (APU) vs. Costin Corneanu (ERAU), 6-3; 1-5 DNF
2 - Boris Bakalov (APU) vs. Nicholas Bousquet (ERAU), 6-2; 4-2 DNF
3 - David Goodman (APU) vs. Evan Specht (ERAU), 6-4; 4-3 DNF
4 - Adam Davidson (APU) vs. Dustin Sipka (ERAU), 6-3; 2-1 DNF
5 - Gordon Hong (APU) def. Danny Arkins (ERAU), 6-2; 6-1
6 - Tom Jelsma (APU) def. Jerry Ward (ERAU), 6-0; 6-0
Doubles
1 - Fletcher/Davidson (APU) def. Corneanu/Bousquet (ERAU), 8-5
2 - Bakalov/Jelsma (APU) def. Specht/Sipka (ERAU), 8-3
3 - Goodman/Hong (APU) def. Arkins/Ward (ERAU), 8-2
