AZUSA, Calif. – After a slow start in doubles, Point Loma Nazarene battled back but ultimately fell to NCAA Division II No. 24 Azusa Pacific 6-3.

The Sea Lions dropped all three doubles matches. Maika Adair and Sharon Reibstein lost 8-2 on court one; Hope Penner and Preethika Venugopal were defeated on court two 8-2; and Kiersten Steinhauer and Wileen Chiu fell 8-2 on court three.

The Sea Lions began to come back in singles. Reibstein won her first set 6-2 on court three before APU's Samantha Kaneta retired from the match. Then on court one, Emily Harris, the 35th-ranked singles player in Division II, took down Adair 6-0, 6-1, to put the Cougars one point away from the win.

On court four, Chiu kept the Sea Lions' victory hopes alive. After dropping the first set against Lindsey Yeom 2-6, Chiu rallied to win the next two sets 6-0 and 7-5. But APU's Danae Ingwaldson ended PLNU's upset bid, defeating Penner in three sets, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, on singles #2 to clinch the win for the Cougars.

Courts five and six featured a pair of hard-fought three-set matches. Venugopal fell 3-6, 6-3, 10-7, to Stephanie Quan on #5, while Steinhauer beat APU's Kim Koetterheinrich 0-6, 7-6, 10-8 on #6.

The loss drops the Sea Lions to 7-13 for the year, while APU improved to 15-4.

On Saturday the Sea Lions will be back in action when they host Academy of Art out on the PLNU tennis courts. The match is slated for 2 p.m.

#24 Azusa Pacific 6, Point Loma 3
Singles
1. #35 Emily Harris (APU-WT) def. Adair, Maika (PLNU-WT) 6-0, 6-1
2. Danae Ingwaldson (APU-WT) def. Penner, Hope (PLNU-WT) 6-7, 6-4, 6-4
3. Reibstein, Sharon (PLNU-WT) def. Samantha Kaneta (APU-WT) 6-2, retired
4. Chiu, Wileen (PLNU-WT) def. Lindsey Yeom (APU-WT) 2-6, 6-0, 7-5
5. Stephanie Quan (APU-WT) def. Venugopal, Preethika (PLNU-WT) 3-6, 6-3, 10-7
6. Steinhauer, Kiersten (PLNU-WT) def. Kim Koetterheinrich (APU-WT) 0-6, 7-6, 10-8

Doubles
1. Emily Harris/Danae Ingwaldson (APU-WT) def. Adair, Maika/Reibstein, Sharon (PLNU-WT) 8-2
2. Brejohn McCrary/Kim Koetterheinrich (APU-WT) def. Penner, Hope/Venugopal, Preethika (PLNU-WT) 8-2
3. Stephanie Quan/Lindsey Yeom (APU-WT) def. Steinhauer, Kiersten/Chiu, Wileen (PLNU-WT) 8-2

Match Notes
Point Loma 7-13; Regional ranking #10
Azusa Pacific 15-4; National ranking #24; Regional ranking #6
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,1,4,2,5,6)