Azusa Pacific 1
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. -- Azusa Pacific barely made it into the field of 24 at the 2003 NAIA Women’s Tennis National Championship, and its stay was short as the NAIA’s No. 15-ranked Pikeville (Ky.) defeated the Cougars, 5-1, in the opening round.
The Cougars, who are ranked No. 19, received the 12th and final at-large berth when the invitations went out last week. They were making their fifth straight NAIA Tournament appearance.
The Bears (13-2), who will meet No. 3 Point Loma Nazarene in the second round, won 2 of 3 doubles, taking Nos. 1 and 2, to take a 2-1 lead into singles’ play where they needed to just earn a split to wrap up the match and advance to the second round.
Suheil Lizana defeated Mayu Sato (6-0, 6-0) at No. 1 singles. Marcela Velez downed Christina Earnest (6-3, 6-1) at No. 3, and Catalina Acosta knocked off Andrea Yorkey (6-2, 6-2) at No. 5 and the Bears had their necessary 5 points to put a halt to the match.
The Cougars earned their lone point at No. 3 doubles when Yorkey and Marilyn Wise defeated Acosta and Marie Hargis (8-6).
With the loss, Azusa Pacific ends its season at 12-12 overall.
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Singles
1 - Suheil Lizana (PC)d. Mayo Sato (APU), 6-0, 6-0
2 - Brianne Hahn (APU) vs. Margarita Bovea (PC), 6-0, 5-2 DNF
3 - Marcela Velez (PC) d. Christina Earnest (APU), 6-3, 6-1
4 - Marilyn Wise (APU) vs. Diana Bovea (PC), 4-6, 2-3 DNF
5 - Catalina Acosta (PC) d. Andrea Yorkey (APU), 6-2, 6-2
6 - Hephzibah Segura (APU) vs. Marie Hargis (PC), 0-6, 5-4 DNF
Doubles
1 - Lizana/M. Bovea (PC) def. Earnest/Segura (APU), 8-3
2 - Velez/D. Bovea (PC) def. Sato/Hahn (APU), 8-4
3 - Wise/Yorkey (APU) vs. Acosta/Hargis (PC), 8-6
