SAN DIEGO - Sports always offers the opportunity to thrill no matter how many matches or games one has seen. Point Loma head coach Rich Hills has seen many matches during his 25 years at the helm of the women's tennis team but he had never seen the Sea Lions defeat Fresno Pacific until Friday (Feb. 21) when PLNU came through with a nail-biting 5-4 victory.

This was the third straight win for Point Loma which moved to 3-4 on the season. The loss evens the Sunbirds record at 2-2.

Point Loma captured the momentum early by taking two of the three doubles matches. Preethika Venugopal and Sharon Reibstein won at No. 3 over Matilda Ackered and Laure-Anne Josso 8-5. Maika Adair and Hillary Ramage then made sure the Sea Lions would go into singles play with the lead by edging the Sunbirds' duo on the second court 8-6.

Singles play started with Venugopal quickly taking down Ackered at No. 5, 6-3 and 6-0, and Adair falling at No. 1 to Petra Jurova 6-2 and 6-0. The Sea Lions would pick the two decisive points to win the set by identical 7-6 and 6-4 scores. Hope Penner won at No. 3s over Angelika Sobiecka and Hilliary Ramage won at No. 6 over Megan Lee to give the Sea Lions the match victory.

Point Loma is now 1-16 all-time in matches against Fresno Pacific.

The Sea Lions will return to action on Friday, Feb. 28 at Vanguard.

#36 Point Loma 5, #10 Fresno Pacific 4
Singles competition
1. Petra Jurova (FPU-WT) def. Adair, Maika (PLNU-WT) 6-2, 6-0
2. Alison Carre (FPU-WT) def. von Koch, Regina (PLNU-WT) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
3. Penner, Hope (PLNU-WT) def. Angelika Sobiecka (FPU-WT) 7-6, 6-4
4. Laure-Anne Josso (FPU-WT) def. Reibstein, Sharon (PLNU-WT) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
5. Venugopal, Preethika (PLNU-WT) def. Matilda Ackered (FPU-WT) 6-3, 6-0
6. Ramage, Hillary (PLNU-WT) def. Megan Lee (FPU-WT) 7-6, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Petra Jurova/Angelika Sobiecka (FPU-WT) def. von Koch, Regina/Penner, Hope (PLNU-WT) 8-2
2. Adair, Maika/Ramage, Hillary (PLNU-WT) def. Erin Carlson/Alison Carre (FPU-WT) 8-6
3. Venugopal, Preethika/Reibstein, Sharon (PLNU-WT) def. Matilda Ackered/Laure-Anne Josso (FPU-WT) 8-5

Match Notes:
Fresno Pacific 2-2; National ranking #10; Regional ranking #4
Point Loma 3-4; National ranking #36; Regional ranking #8