Contributed
(May 21, 2010)

MOBILE – The semifinals have a familiar look to them at the 2010 NAIA Men’s Tennis National Championship at the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Ala. Three of the four semifinalists were in this same position just a year ago. Fresno Pacific (Calif.), Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) and Embry-Riddle (Fla.) all made the semifinals in 2009. The only newcomer to the group this year is Azusa Pacific (Calif.). These same four teams all made the semifinals in the 2008 championship and at least two of the four teams have made the semifinals every year since 2003.

No. 1-seed Fresno Pacific is making its third straight trip to the semifinals. The Sunbirds dispatched Golden State Athletic Conference foe Westmont (Calif.) 5-1 to advance. Fresno Pacific held a 2-1 advantage after the doubles matches completed and went on to win three straight singles matches for the win. Alex Gonzalez, Maxime Adam and Jose Hilla all earned singles victories to help the Sunbirds advance. Fresno Pacific will face Embry-Riddle in the semifinals.

Fourth-seeded Embry-Riddle is making its sixth straight appearance in the semifinals. The Eagles won a hard fought battle with No. 5-seed Concordia (Calif.). Embry-Riddle took a 2-1 lead after the doubles matches and won three of the five singles matches that were played to completion. ERAU scored wins from Jan Hoekzema in one singles (6-2, 6-3), Peter Francis in two singles (4-6, 6-1, 6-4) and Istvan Bolgar in five singles (6-3, 6-1). Embry-Riddle is 0-2 all-time against Fresno Pacific in the semifinals.

No. 2-seed AUM earned its 10th semifinals appearance with a 5-0 shutout of No. 7-seed Oklahoma Christian. The Senators swept the doubles matches 8-5, 8-5, 8-3, respectively. AUM’s Bence Toth defeated the Eagles’ Esteban Flores (6-2, 6-3) in five singles and Loic Didavi dispatched Chase Miller (6-1, 6-2) in six singles. The Senators have only missed the semifinals one year (2003) since the NAIA switched to the team format in 2000. AUM will take on Azusa Pacific in the other semifinal match.

The No. 3-seed Azusa Pacific is making its seventh overall appearance in the semifinals. The Cougars made six-straight appearances in the semifinals from 2003-08. APU earned a hard fought 5-4 win over fellow GSAC school Vanguard (Calif.). The Cougars trailed 2-1 after the finish of the doubles matches but took four of the six singles matches to advance. Janosch Apelt defeated Vanguard’s Lucas Pereira (6-4, 6-7, 6-2) in a grueling two singles match to secure the win. Azusa Pacific is 5-1 overall in semifinal matches and 1-1 against AUM.

The top-seeds have held, as the top four teams in the field all advance to the semifinals of the 2010 NAIA Women’s Tennis National Championship in Mobile, Ala. Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) will face Concordia (Calif.) and Fresno Pacific (Calif.) will take on Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) at 9:00 a.m. CDT on Friday, May 21.

AUM women move into semis

No. 1-seed Auburn Montgomery shut out the eighth-seed Oklahoma Christian, 5-0. The Lady Senators swept all three doubles matches, 8-3, 8-1 and 8-1. Whitney Byrd defeated Oklahoma Christian’s Andreea Constantinescu 6-0, 6-1 at four singles. Parija Maloo sealed the Lady Senator’s win with a 6-2, 6-3 win at two singles.

No. 4-seed Concordia and No. 5-seed Vanguard’s (Calif.) match went the distance. The Eagles pulled out a 5-4 win over their Golden State Athletic Conference foe. Concordia held a 2-1 advantage after doubles and split the singles matches to earn the 5-4 win.

Fresno Pacific, the No. 2-seed, swept fellow GSAC opponent and No. 7-seed Azusa Pacific (Calif.), 5-0. The Sunbirds captured all three doubles matches 8-6, 8-3, 8-1, respectively. Sara Celma won two singles 6-3, 6-3 and Vanessa Heroux took four singles 6-2, 6-3 to clinch the win.

Point Loma Nazarene swept all three doubles matches and took two out of three singles matches over Brenau (Ga.) to earn a 5-1 victory. Wileen Chiu won six singles 7-6 (4), 6-3 and Kristin Strimple took one singles 6-3, 6-3 for the Sea Lions. Jolene Wong captured Brenau’s only match, winning three singles 6-2, 6-2.