SURPRISE, Ariz. - The No. 25 Point Loma women's tennis team picked up a 5-1 win over Dominican (CA) in the consolation portion of the Pacific West Conference Championships on Friday, Apr. 18.
 
The win keeps the No. 7 regionally ranked Sea Lions alive on the backside of the bracket and moves them to 13-12 on the season. PLNU will face the winner of the Fresno Pacific-Sonoma State match for fifth place at the PacWest Championships on Saturday, Apr. 19 at 9:00 a.m.
 
Point Loma began the match by taking two of three doubles. PLNU won at No. 2s with Maika Adair and Hillary Ramage over Caitlin Aloia and Chloe Vicari 8-3. Preethika Venugopal and Kaitlyn Murray then made sure the Sea Lions would have the lead going into singles with an 8-2 win at No. 3.
 
As the match turned to singles, Point Loma needed to earn three points to seize the victory. The Sea Lions did even better than they could have hoped by winning three singles matches before DU could even get one. Venugopal opened things up by sweeping Vicari in straight sets 6-1 and 6-0. Hope Penner also picked up a win via a 6-2 and 6-3 sweep over Aloia at No. 3s. Kirsty Mountain delivered the decisive match point at No. 6s as she dominated Franesca Katafias 6-0 and 6-0.
 
The loss ends Dominican's season at 9-8.
 
#25 Point Loma 5, Dominican 1
Singles competition
1. Adair, Maika (PLNU-WT) vs. Irina Morozova (DUC-WT) 7-6, unfinished
2. von Koch, Regina (PLNU-WT) vs. Emily Prescott (DUC-WT) 6-3, 4-1, unfinished
3. Penner, Hope (PLNU-WT) def. Caitlin Aloia (DUC-WT) 6-2, 6-3
4. Venugopal, Preethika (PLNU-WT) def. Chloe Vicari (DUC-WT) 6-1, 6-0
5. Ramage, Hillary (PLNU-WT) vs. Kelly Zwickler (DUC-WT) 4-6, 2-2, unfinished
6. Mountain, Kirsty (PLNU-WT) def. Francesca Katafias (DUC-WT) 6-0, 6-0
 
Doubles competition
1. Irina Morozova/Emily Prescott (DUC-WT) def. Penner, Hope/von Koch, Regina (PLNU-WT) 8-5
2. Adair, Maika/Ramage, Hillary (PLNU-WT) def. Caitlin Aloia/Chloe Vicari (DUC-WT) 8-3
3. Venugopal, Preethika/Murray, Kaitlyn (PLNU-WT) def. Francesca Katafias/Kelly Zwickler (DUC-WT) 8-2
 
Match Notes
Dominican 9-8; Regional ranking #10
Point Loma 13-12; National ranking #25; Regional ranking #7
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (4,3,6)
Pacific West Conference Championship Tournament
Point Loma No. 5 seed
Dominican No. 8 seed
PLNU advances to 5th place match
T-2:40 A-116