SAN DIEGO - The Point Loma men's tennis team lost a heartbreaker to No. 19 BYU-Hawaii, 5-4, on Monday, Feb. 23. The Sea Lions (2-3) battled from behind all match and just couldn't overcome hump to take the lead on the Seasiders (6-1).
 
The match started in singles. CJ Erion gave PLNU its only lead with a sweep (7-6, 6-2) on court 5 to open the match. BYU-Hawaii answered quickly with straight set wins on courts 4 and 6. Every match from there on out would come down the wire.
 
On court 2, Martin Blaho and his opponent Martin Chojnacki went to a tiebreaker in the third set after Blaho won the second set on a tiebreaker 7-6. Chojnacki came up right when the Seasiders needed him this time and won the set to take the match 6-2, 6-7 and 7-6 and help BYU go up 3-1 in team points.
 
Staab cut the Seasiders' lead in half with gutsy 6-1, 2-6 and 7-5 win on court 1. Jame Tenbroeck would also go to a tiebreaker, this time with the chance to even the match score for PLNU, but a late rally by Ibrahim Karmadzhe let the Seasider prevail 5-7, 6-3 and 7-6, and give BYU-Hawaii the 4-2 lead heading to doubles.
 
PLNU quickly won on courts No. 1 and No.3 to even the match at 4-4. The match came down to nail biter on court 2 but the Seasiders again managed to just edge the Sea Lions late to take the doubles match 9-7 and give BYU-Hawaii the win.   
 
"It is frustrating in singles that we battled as hard as we could and just came up one to two points short," said Wheeler. "We did a great job competing on every court and for every point."
 
"I was encouraged in No. 1 doubles," Wheeler added. "It was a great win against a highly ranked pair."\
 
"This is why we play matches like this," he continued. "We had a chance to win this one with a point here and there. Overall I couldn't ask for more. The guys put out great effort and competed."
 
Point Loma's next match will be Thursday, Feb. 26 at 2:00 p.m. when it hosts Vanguard. 

#19 BYU-Hawaii 5, #45 Point Loma 4
Singles competition
1. Staab, Andre (PLNU-MT) def. Zakharov, Yevhen (BYUH-M) 6-1, 2-6, 7-5
2. Chojnacki, Martin (BYUH-M) def. Blaho, Martin (PLNU-MT) 6-2, 6-7, 7-6
3. Karmadzhe, Ibrahim (BYUH-M) def. Tenbroeck, James (PLNU-MT) 5-7, 6-3, 7-6
4. Lee, Wei-Feng (BYUH-M) def. Milliken, Daniel (PLNU-MT) 6-4, 6-2
5. Erion, CJ (PLNU-MT) def. Dai, Peng (BYUH-M) 7-6, 6-2
6. De Hoyas, Taylor (BYUH-M) def. Alston, Jack (PLNU-MT) 6-4, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Staab, Andre/Milliken, Daniel (PLNU-MT) def. Zakharov, Yevhen/Chojnacki, Martin (BYUH-M) 8-2
2. Lee, Wei-Feng/Dai, Peng (BYUH-M) def. Blaho, Martin/Erion, CJ (PLNU-MT) 9-7
3. Tenbroeck, James/Alston, Jack (PLNU-MT) def. Karmadzhe, Ibrahim/Pate, Colton (BYUH-M) 8-5

Match Notes:
BYU-Hawaii 6-1; National ranking #19; Regional ranking #4
Point Loma 2-3; National ranking #45; Regional ranking #5
T-104