SAN DIEGO – NAIA sixth-ranked Point Loma Nazarene lost to visiting NCAA DII No. 19 UC San Diego Friday afternoon, 5-4. Two Sea Lion starters were forced to miss the non-conference match due to class conflicts, but it was the inability to close out doubles on court one that came back to haunt the Green and Gold.

The Sea Lions, playing in their final home match of 2012, fell to 12-10 while the Tritons snap a seven-game slide and improved to 13-10. 

Doubles kicked off Friday's match that was scheduled for last week but was postponed by rain. The PLNU duo of Kaptan Kaster and KC Ensley played on court three and defeated Mark Meyer and Trevor Dell 8-6. On court two were Chad Rubin and Michael Zablan who were beaten by Max Jiganti and Sam Ling 8-3.

Only court one was left. That's where Gregory De Andrade and Angel Tavera battled Devon Sousa and Kona Luu for the last point. The match went back and forth but PLNU was edged in the end, 9-8, and headed into singles down 2-1.

The six singles matches split right down the middle. Courts one, three and four went to Loma while UCSD picked up two, five and six. Rubin, on four, beat out Luu in two sets 7-5, 6-4. Court three watched Zablan defeat Ling 6-4, 6-3, giving PLNU three points in the match.

Ensley was taken out on court two by Jiganti 6-1, 6-3, while Green and Gold teammate Kaster on six also fell quickly in 6-2. 6-3. Angel Tavera fought on court five but lost to Sousa 6-4, 7-5.

De Andrade and Chapman Chan were to last two players standing on court one. DeAndrade lost the first set to his Triton opponent 6-1 before taking the second 7-6. With the team victory assured by UCSD though, the match went to a super tie-breaker instead of a third set, with DeAndrade winning 10-8.

Point Loma will be traveling for its next and final match before the Ojai tournament to play No. 4-ranked Azusa Pacific this coming Wednesday at 4:00 pm. That will be the last ever GSAC match for PLNU which is joining the NCAA DII as a member of the PacWest starting in the Fall of 2012.

The Sea Lions lost to APU 7-2 earlier in the season. 

#19 UC San Diego 5, #6 Point Loma Nazarene 4
04/20/12 at San Diego, CA (PLNU Tennis Courts)

Singles competition

1. DE ANDRADE, Gregory (PLNU) def. Chapman Chan (UCSD) 1-6, 7-6, 10-8

2. Max Jiganti (UCSD) def. ENSLEY, KC (PLNU) 6-1, 6-3

3. ZABLAN, Michael (PLNU) def. Sam Ling (UCSD) 6-4, 6-3

4. RUBIN, Chad (PLNU) def. Kona Luu (UCSD) 7-5, 6-4

5. Devon Sousa (UCSD) def. TAVERA, Angel (PLNU) 6-4, 7-5

6. Guy Giubilato (UCSD) def. KASTER, Kaptan (PLNU) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles competition

1. Devon Sousa/Kona Luu (UCSD) def. DE ANDRADE, Gregory/TAVERA, Angel (PLNU) 9-8

2. Max Jiganti/Sam Ling (UCSD) def. RUBIN, Chad/ZABLAN, Michael (PLNU) 8-3

3. KASTER, Kaptan/ENSLEY, KC (PLNU) def. Mark Meyer/Trevor Dell (UCSD) 8-6

Match Notes

UC San Diego 13-10; National ranking #19

Point Loma Nazarene 12-10; National ranking #6

UCSD competes in the NCAA DII as a member of the CCAA

PLNU competes in the NAIA as a member of the GSAC

Doubles first (2,3,1) Singles (2,6,3,5,4,1)