The Sea Lions defeated crosstown UC San Diego 6-3 in a non-conference match at the PLNU Tennis Courts on Tuesday. Point Loma Nazarene (10-8) was propelled to the win by a big doubles comeback on court one.

Tuesday's triumph was the first for the Sea Lions over the Tritons in at least seven years. PLNU, which competes in the NAIA, is now 5-14 all-time against NCAA DII UCSD (10-9).

The match started with the intensity most end with. The Sea Lions had split two doubles points, losing at court three with Joel Myers and Tyler Bowman winning on court two. Number one was where the action was, and it was not looking good as Loma trailed 7-1. Then, in a comeback worthy of Rocky, Sea Lions Curt Wheeler and Landon Hilker powered through their UCSD rivals to win 9-8.

PLNU Coach Rich Hills said, "It was one of the best comebacks I've ever seen."

The comeback pumped up the team, pushing PLNU to win four of the six singles, all of which came from the top of the ladder by Myers, Wheeler, Bowman and DJ Jaehnig, respectively. Those victories were in straight sets.

"This match was awesome," said Hills. "It was a good score against UCSD for us. Hopefully, this will boost us to get [GSAC rivals] Fresno and Concordia in the next few weeks."

Fresno Pacific is to be faced first, the match being set for Saturday on the Fresno courts starting at noon.

-Maggie Hills

Point Loma Nazarene 6, UC San Diego 3
04/06/10 at San Diego, CA (PLNU Tennis Courts)
Singles competition
1. MYERS, Joel (PLNU) def. Erik Elliott (UCSD) 7-6 (7-1), 6-3
2. WHEELER, Curt (PLNU) def. Chapman Chan (UCSD) 6-2, 6-3
3. BOWMAN, Tyler (PLNU) def. Sam Ling (UCSD) 7-5, 6-1
4. JAEHNIG, David (PLNU) def. Jake Fellow (UCSD) 6-0, 6-4
5. Vincent Nguyen (UCSD) def. BROWN, Trent (PLNU) 6-2, 6-3
6. Junya Yoshida (UCSD) def. ALBAUGH, Travis (PLNU) 6-4, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. WHEELER, Curt/HILKER, Landon (PLNU) def. Erik Elliott/Chapman Chan (UCSD) 9-8
2. MYERS, Joel/BOWMAN, Tyler (PLNU) def. Austin West/Armaun Emami (UCSD) 8-3
3. Naveen Dixit/Sam Ling (UCSD) def. JAEHNIG, David/ALBAUGH, Travis (PLNU) 8-6

Match Notes
UC San Diego 10-9
Point Loma Nazarene 10-8
Non-conference match, scored with NAIA rules
PLNU competes in the NAIA, UCSD competes in NCAA DII
Doubles contested first, followed by singles
Order of finish, doubles: 2,3,1; singles:4,2,6,5,1,3