SAN DIEGO - The NAIA No. 3-ranked Sea Lions nearly pulled off the win of the year but came up just short to top-ranked Fresno Pacific 5-4 Wednesday afternoon. It was just the second loss of the year for Point Loma Nazarene; both coming against the Sunbirds.
FPU defeated PLNU 6-3 earlier in the season up in Fresno. Perhaps Point Loma will get another shot at the Sunbirds on the neutral NAIA Championship Courts in Mobile, Alabama, and get one more point.
Wednesday's match was the final home contest for PLNU and three seniors: Kristin Strimple, Ashley Litchfield and Rachel Owens. All three have been tremendous contributors to the team's success in recent years. Strimple will arguably go down as the best player to don a Sea Lion uniform.
The three-time, first team All-American is certainly on the way to another first team nod and possibly a Player of the Year selection. Strimple remains perfect against NAIA opponents after breezing to a 6-2, 6-2 straight sets win over Sara Celma on court one. Her all-time PLNU record is now 96-12, putting her just four wins from 100 and record-holder Anna Sieczka (2000-03).
Strimple and partner Litchfield didn't do as well in doubles, however, losing 8-3. The PLNU duo beat FPU's tandem of Celma and Ericka Januskova in Fresno. A repeat of that feat could have led to an upset today.
Owens and Jessica Kwan fell on court two 8-3 with Wileen Chiu and Kiersten Steinhauer notching a 8-6 win for the Sea Lions on No. 3 doubles.
PLNU was down 2-1 heading into singles. Chiu and Strimple did their part to get Loma back into the mix with wins; Chiu topping Heidi Jackson 6-1, 6-0 on six. Kwan and Owens fell 6-2, 6-0 and 6-1, 6-1 respectively on three and four, though and the momentum swung back to FPU.
Litchfield lost to Marie Boura on two 6-4, 6-4 as the Sunbirds sealed the team win. Point Loma's Maika Adair and Fresno's Erika Januskova were the only ones left playing on five. Adair won the opening set 6-3 before losing the second 6-2. She then survived a match point to win the super-tiebreaker 12-10.
PLNU fell to 18-2, 13-2 GSAC while the Sunbirds improved to 18-4, 16-0.
The Sea Lions have one more conference contest remaining; that comes next Wednesday at Azusa Pacific.
#1 Fresno Pacific 5, #3 Point Loma Nazarene 4
04/20/11 at San Diego, CA (PLNU Tennis Courts)
| Singles competition |
| 1. STRIMPLE, Kristin (PLNU) def. CELMA, Sara (FPU) 6-2, 6-2 |
| 2. BOURA, Marie (FPU) def. LITCHFIELD, Ashley (PLNU) 6-4, 6-4 |
| 3. VALLADERES, Cristina (FPU) def. KWAN, Jessica (PLNU) 6-2, 6-0 |
| 4. JUSTIN, Yumiko (FPU) def. OWENS, Rachel (PLNU) 6-1, 6-1 |
| 5. ADAIR, Maika (PLNU) def. JANUSKOVA, Erika (FPU) 6-3, 2-6, 12-10 |
| 6. CHIU, Wileen (PLNU) def. JACKSON, Heidi (FPU) 6-1, 6-0 |
| Doubles competition |
| 1. BOURA, Marie/JANUSKOVA, Erika (FPU) def. STRIMPLE, Kristin/LITCHFIELD, Ashley (PLNU) 8-3 |
| 2. JUSTIN, Yumiko/VALLADERES, Cristina (FPU) def. OWENS, Rachel/KWAN, Jessica (PLNU) 8-3 |
| 3. CHIU, Wileen/STEINHAUER, Kiersten (PLNU) def. McFEETERS, Elizabeth/CELMA, Sara (FPU) 8-6 |
| Match Notes |
| Fresno Pacific 18-4, 16-0 GSAC; National ranking #1 |
| Point Loma Nazarene 18-2, 13-2 GSAC; National ranking #3 |
| Doubles played first (2,1,3); followed by singles (4,6,3,1,2,5) |
| Official: Bob Barrantini |
