The NAIA No. 9-ranked Sea Lions brought off an impressive upset win against sixth-ranked Vanguard in a conference match Tuesday evening at the PLNU Tennis Courts. Point Loma improves to 7-7 on the year, 3-6 in GSAC, while VUSC falls to 7-5, 5-4.

The Lions have made a habit of coming out on top of PLNU in recent years, often winning by one point. That streak finally ended Tuesday.

The match kicked off to a great start for the Sea Lions as they swept all three doubles points.  David Jaehnig and Travis Albaugh at three won quickly by 8-3 score, followed by Landon Hilker and Curt Wheeler winning at one in a close match 8-6.  Joel Myers and Tyler Bowman at two continued the trend, finishing their match at 8-6 and bringing the score to 3-0.

In singles, Albaugh won on six, putting PLNU within a point of the team victory. Jaehing then came through with the match-winning point on court four. Brown also won on court five, pushing the Sea Lion point total to six.

VUSC claimed wins on two and three, leaving just one more point up for grabs. Though the team win was already accomplished, Myers at one had a remarkable contest against Vanguard's Alessandro Ventre. Myers has never beaten Ventre but today managed to break through. The Sea Lion junior won the first set 6-4, before slipping in the second 7-6. Myers won the spirited tie breaker, 10-7, however, for the final 7-2 margin of victory.

"That's got to be one of the biggest wins in PLNU history," said Coach Rich Hills. I'm really proud of the lower part of the ladder, they really came through. We needed them to be good and they really reached what they were capable of today."

The Sea Lions travel to Azusa Pacific for another tough conference match that starts at 11:00 am.



#9 Point Loma Nazarene 7, #7 Vanguard 2
03/23/10 at San Diego, CA (PLNU Tennis Courts)
Singles competition
1. MYERS, Joel (PLNU) def. VENTRE, Alessandro (VUSC) 6-4, 6-7, 10-7
2. PEREIRA, Lucas (VUSC) def. WHEELER, Curt (PLNU) 6-4, 7-6
3. BRODAR, Tino (VUSC) def. BOWMAN, Tyler (PLNU) 7-6, 6-4
4. JAEHNIG, David (PLNU) def. BUCHER, Sandro (VUSC) 7-5, 6-4
5. BROWN, Trent (PLNU) def. KRYVARUCHKA, Yahor (VUSC) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
6. ALBAUGH, Travis (PLNU) def. IWDAL, Nils (VUSC) 6-2, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. HILKER, Landon/WHEELER, Curt (PLNU) def. BRODAR, Tino/PEREIRA, Lucas (VUSC) 8-6
2. MYERS, Joel/BOWMAN, Tyler (PLNU) def. VENTRE, Alessandro/BUCHER, Sandro (VUSC) 8-6
3. JAEHNIG, David/ALBAUGH, Travis (PLNU) def. KRYVARUCHKA, Yahor/TARJAN, Mark (VUSC) 8-3

Match Notes
Vanguard 7-5, 5-4 GSAC; National ranking #7
Point Loma Nazarene 7-7, 3-6 GSAC; National ranking #9
Order of finish: doubles, 3,1,2; Singles: 6,2,3,(4),5,1
Official: Tony Perez T-4:00