SURPRISE, Ariz. - After the first day of the Pacific West Conference tennis championships everyone is talking about the Sea Lions' dominant performance to upset Fresno Pacific, which entered the match as the No. 2 seed in the tournament and ranked No. 9 nationally, by the commanding score of 5-1.
 
PLNU (6-15), which had already lost to FPU twice this season, won all three doubles matches to take an early 3-0 advantage. The No. 13 ranked duo of Brooks Baldinger and Michael Zablan set the tone for the match early by earning an 8-5 victory at No. 1s. The Sea Lions would get the wins at No. 2 and 3 by the same scores. Marin Blaho and Kaptan Kaster earned the win in the second spot while Daniel Milliken and Kevin McKelligan grabbed the third point for the Sea Lions at No. 3s.
 
PLNU would then use a pair of quick singles wins to secure the victory and squash any hope of a Sunbirds' comeback. FPU earned the first point at No. 3 singles to bring the Sunbirds within two points at 3-1.  However, Baldinger and Milliken came through with singles wins of their own to secure the victory.
 
Baldinger improved to 17-4 on the season with a straight set, 6-4 and 6-0, win from his No. 1 position. Milliken then came up with a sweep to at No. 5s, 6-2 and 6-0, to collect the fifth match point for PLNU to complete the victory. The rest of the matches stopped after PLNU had collected the decisive fifth point.
 
PLNU will now move on to face the No. 3 seed, Azusa Pacific (18-5) in the semifinals of the PacWest Championships on Friday at 2:00 p.m. This will be the third time PLNU and APU have met in men's tennis this year. The Cougars hold a 2-0 advantage.
 
Point Loma 5, #9 Fresno Pacific 1
Singles competition
1. Baldinger, Brooks (PLNU-MT) def. Thomas Gely (FPU-MT) 6-4, 6-0
2. Brendan Aguilar (FPU-MT) vs. Zablan, Michael (PLNU-MT) 6-4, 1-6, unfinished
3. Leonardo Urquidi (FPU-MT) def. Blaho, Martin (PLNU-MT) 6-3, 6-4
4. Stefan Loop (FPU-MT) vs. Kaster, Kaptan (PLNU-MT) 6-4, 1-4, unfinished
5. Milliken, Daniel (PLNU-MT) def. Daniel Gianopulos (FPU-MT) 6-2, 6-0
6. Teddy Renard (FPU-MT) vs. McKelligan, Kevin (PLNU-MT) 6-2, 4-4, unfinished
 
Doubles competition
1. #13 Baldinger, Brooks/Zablan, Michael (PLNU-MT) def. Thomas Gely/Stefan Loop (FPU-MT) 8-5
2. Blaho, Martin/Kaster, Kaptan (PLNU-MT) def. Leonardo Urquidi/Brendan Aguilar (FPU-MT) 8-5
3. Milliken, Daniel/McKelligan, Kevin (PLNU-MT) def. Daniel Gianopulos/Teddy Renard (FPU-MT) 8-5
 
Match Notes
Point Loma 7-15; Regional ranking #7
Fresno Pacific 17-7; National ranking #9; Regional ranking #2
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,1,5)
Pacific West Conference Championship Tournament
Fresno Pacific No. 2 Seed
Point Loma No. 7 Seed
PLNU advances to PacWest semifinals
T-2:30 A-103