SAN DIEGO - The Point Loma men's tennis team lost a heartbreaking 5-4 match to Azusa Pacific in the season opener for the Sea Lions on Friday, Feb. 7.

PLNU jumped out to a 2-1 lead after it won at both No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. Brooks Baldinger and Michael Zablan dominated at the No. 1 doubles spot en route to an 8-2 win.

The match moved to singles with Point Loma holding the one point lead. The Sea Lions quickly picked up a point at No. 3 with Baldinger defeating Alan Leahy 6-3 and 6-4 and then awaited its fate on the other singles to decide the match.

APU earned straight set wins at No. 5 and No. 6 to tie the match at 3-3. Newcomer Martin Blaho then put Point Loma back in front by winning at the No. 1 position 1-6, 6-3 and 6-3. APU answered back with a three-set victory of its own at No. 2 bringing the match to down to Kaptan Kaster and Gary Yam at No. 4 singles.

Kaster won the opening set 6-3 but dropped the last two by the identical score as the Point Loma dropped its opener 5-4.

The Sea Lions next match will be Friday, Feb. 14 in Phoenix against Sonoma State starting at 9:00 a.m.

Azusa Pacific 5, Point Loma 4
Singles competition
1. Blaho, Martin (PLNU-MT) def. Frederik Wilkens (APU-MT) 1-6, 6-3, 6-3
2. Jan Meyer (APU-MT) def. Zablan, Michael (PLNU-MT) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
3. Baldinger, Brooks (PLNU-MT) def. Alan Leahy (APU-MT) 6-3, 6-4
4. Gary Yam (APU-MT) def. Kaster, Kaptan (PLNU-MT) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
5. Pascal Engel (APU-MT) def. Milliken, Daniel (PLNU-MT) 6-4, 6-0
6. Tomas Aranguiz (APU-MT) def. McKelligan, Kevin (PLNU-MT) 6-0, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. Baldinger, Brooks/Zablan, Michael (PLNU-MT) def. Jan Meyer/Pascal Engel (APU-MT) 8-2
2. Kaster, Kaptan/Blaho, Martin (PLNU-MT) def. Frederik Wilkens/Tomas Aranguiz (APU-MT) 8-5
3. Gary Yam/Alan Leahy (APU-MT) def. Milliken, Daniel/McKelligan, Kevin (PLNU-MT) 8-0

Match Notes:
Azusa Pacific: 2-0
Point Loma: 0-1