SAN DIEGO -- Michael Zablan pulled out a three-set win to give NAIA No. 7-ranked Point Loma Nazarene a 5-4 non-conference triumph over NCAA DIII Claremont-Mudd Scripps Thursday afternoon.

The Sea Lions improved to 4-3 on the year with the win while the Stags dropped to 4-2.
 
Doubles began the day's competition, with the Green and Gold coming out with a 2-1 advantage. Things didn't begin so well when court two's match finished with Angel Tavera and KC Ensley coming up short 8-3 against CMS's Warren Wood and Rob Erani.
 
PLNU's No. 1 team of Greg De Andrade and Tyler Bowman finished next with a strong 8-3 win over opponents Zhenya Perevezin and Brandon Wei. Sea Lions Diego Tavera and Zablan gave PLNU the edge when they took their pro set 8-6 from Stags Mac Cahill and Neel Kotrappa on court three.
 
Singles proved to be tight as well.
 
First, Cahill evened up the score on court four with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Loma's Diego Tavera. Ensley then defeated Erani 6-1, 6-4 and teammate De Andrade on court two followed with a 6-2, 6-2 win against Alex Johnson to give PLNU a 4-2 team advantage.
 
But the Sea Lions were stuck at four points as the Stags came back to win on court one where PLNU's Bowman was frustrated by Wood 6-4, 6-2. Attention turned to the bottom rung courts for the winning matches.
 
Chad Rubin was edged by Stag Andrew Duckworth 7-6, 6-4 on six but PLNU's Zablan stepped up to beat Kotrappa in the third set on court five. Zablan took the first set 6-4, lost the second 6-3 and then powered to a 6-0 win in the third.
 
"I didn't play as well in the first two sets," says Zablan. "But in the third I found a rhythm and was able to win it."
 
"Mike really cut loose in that third set," said PLNU head coach Rich Hills. "It was a good win for us. We just need to get our players to play at a high level consistently which will come as the season progresses."
 
The Sea Lions travel to sixth-ranked Westmont College on Saturday. The match begins at 11:00 am.


#7 Point Loma Nazarene 5, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 4
03/01/12 at San Diego, CA (PLNU Courts)

Singles competition

1. WOOD, Warren (CMS) def. BOWMAN, Tyler (PLNU) 6-4, 6-2

2. DE ANDRADE, Greg (PLNU) def. JOHNSON, Alex (CMS) 6-2, 6-2

3. ENSLEY, KC (PLNU) def. ERANI, Rob (CMS) 6-1, 6-4

4. CAHILL, Mac (CMS) def. TAVERA, Diego (PLNU) 6-0, 6-2

5. ZABLAN, Michael (PLNU) def. KOTRAPPA, Neel (CMS) 6-4, 3-6, 6-0

6. DUCKWORTH, Andrew (CMS) def. RUBIN, Chad (PLNU)  7-6, 6-4

Doubles competition

1. BOWMAN, Tyler/DE ANDRADE, Greg (PLNU) def. PEREVEZIN, Zhenya/WEI, Brandon (CMS) 8-3

2. WOOD, Warren/ERANI, Rob (CMS) def. TAVERA, Angel/ENSLEY, KC (PLNU) 8-3

3. TAVERA, Diego/ZABLAN, Michael (PLNU) def. CAHILL, Mac/KOTRAPPA, Neel (CMS) 8-6

Match Notes

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 4-2

Point Loma Nazarene 4-3; National ranking #7

PLNU competes in the NAIA; CMS in the NCAA DIII

Doubles competed first (2,1,3) then singles (4,3,2,1,5,6)

T-4 hours