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SAN DIEGO -- No. 7 Point Loma managed just one point against NAIA top-ranked Fresno Pacific on Saturday. The 8-1 loss puts PLNU at 0-2 overall, 0-1 in GSAC while FPU stands at 5-0 overall and 4-0 in GSAC play.
 
The men began playing doubles as the PLNU women were finishing their match with the Sunbirds. As with the ladies, all three doubles points went to visiting FPU squad.
 
Angel Tavera and KC Ensley on court two were beat 8-1 by FPU's Nathan Martinet and Kirill Sinitsyn. Court three was closer with Diego Tavera and Mike Zablan losing 8-6 to Fresno's Amarit Sanchez and Lloyd Bruce-Burgess. Court one's team of Greg De Andrade and Tyler Bowman were just edged 9-7 by top Sunbirds Xavier Smith and Cledson Carvalho.
 
Singles wasn't much better. Only De Andrade on court two was able to pull through and keep the match from being a sweep. As for the rest of the matches, Loma lost in straight sets and no one won more than four games in a set.
 
Bowman lost to Smith 6-1, 6-2 on court one. Court three saw Ensley fall to Carvalho 6-1, 6-4. Court four's Diego Tavera was beat by Martinet 6-4, 6-0. Zablan on court five lost 6-3, 6-4 to Sanchez and Chad Rubin at six was dropped 6-1, 6-2 by Bruce-Burgess. 
 
De Andrade split sets with Sinitsyn. He lost the first set 6-3 but then came back to win the second by the same score. Since the match was decided by that time, the men played a tie-breaker which De Andrade narrowly won 10-8.
 
"The guys were up against the best FPU team I've seen,” said PLNU Coach Rich Hills. “They have had several good teams but this was as good as any of those. We were competitive in two of the doubles and some of the singles which was good. I like our team and I am expecting our older players to step up this year to take on the challenges this conference is providing."
 
The next Green and Gold match is against No. 11 Concordia on Tuesday at 2 pm prior, to the women's match on the PLNU home courts. 
 

#1 Fresno Pacific 8, #7 Point Loma Nazarene 1
02/18/12 at San Diego, CA (PLNU Tennis Courts)

Singles competition

1. SMITH, Xavier (FPU) def. BOWMAN, Tyler (PLNU) 6-1, 6-2

2. DE ANDRADE, Gregory (PLNU) def. SINITSYN, Kirill (FPU) 3-6, 6-3, 10-8

3. CARVALHO, Cledson (FPU) def. ENSLEY, KC (PLNU) 6-1, 6-4

4. MARTINET, Nathan (FPU) def. TAVERA, Diego (PLNU) 6-4, 6-0

5. SANCHEZ, Amarit (FPU) def. ZABLAN, Michael (PLNU) 6-3, 6-4

6. BRUCE-BURGESS, Lloyd (FPU) def. RUBIN, Chad (PLNU) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles competition

1. SMITH, Xavier/CARVALHO, Cledson (FPU) def. BOWMAN, Tyler/DE ANDRADE, Gregory (PLNU) 9-7

2. MARTINET, Nathan/SINITSYN, Kirill (FPU) def. TAVERA, Angel/ENSLEY, KC (PLNU) 8-1

3. SANCHEZ, Amarit/BRUCE-BURGESS, Lloyd (FPU) def. TAVERA, Diego/ZABLAN, Michael (PLNU) 8-6

Match Notes

Fresno Pacific 5-0, 4-0 GSAC; National ranking #1

Point Loma Nazarene 0-2, 0-1 GSAC; National ranking #7

Order of finish: Doubles (), Singles ()

Official: Doug Fitzgerald