SAN DIEGO - The Point Loma men's tennis team earned a critical victory over PacWest foe BYU-Hawaii, 5-4, on Tuesday, Mar. 15, as the two teams fight for seeding at the upcoming PacWest Championships (Apr. 13-16).
 
PLNU (6-9) is ranked No. 5 in the West Region, one spot behind the Seasiders (No. 4) but this victory sets the Sea Lions up to possibly receive the higher seed at the PacWest tournament.
 
The victory, which was the third straight for the Sea Lions, and fourth in their last five matches, was not easy but the seniors stepped up and defended their home court. It was Point Loma's first ever win over BYU-Hawaii (1-6).
 
The Sea Lions opened the match with seniors Andre Staab and Daniel Milliken holding strong on court 1 with an 8-5 victory. BYU-Hawaii answered with a win on court 2 to even the match at 1-1. Fellow seniors Martin Blaho and James Tenbroeck knew the importance of that final doubles point and were unyielding to the Seasider's doubles duo. It took extra set but Blaho and Tenbroeck prevailed, 9-7, to give Point Loma the 2-1 lead.
 
In singles, Blaho made quick work of his opponent on court 2 (6-1 and 6-2) and sophomore CJ Erion did the same on court 5 (6-4 and 6-0) to put Point Loma within one point of winning the match. That point would take some time and come in dramatic fashion after BYU-Hawaii won on courts 3, 4 and 6 to tie the match at 4-4.
 
It came down to PLNU's 2015 All-American, Andre Staab, on court 1 with the match on the line. He dropped the first set 7-6 and despite his teammates putting PLNU in front he did not let his concentration lapse. Staab bounced back to win the second set 6-4, which included a late service break. In the third set he finally put it all together with a convincing 6-2 set win to give Point Loma its biggest victory so far this season.
 
PLNU will be back on the court tomorrow when it hosts UCONN at 2:00 p.m.
 
#27 Point Loma 5, #21 BYU-Hawaii 4
Mar 15, 2016 at San Diego, CA (PLNU Tennis Courts)
Singles competition
1. Staab, Andre (PLNU-MT) def. Ibrahim Karmadzhe (BYUHMT) 6-7, 6-4, 6-2
2. Blaho, Martin (PLNU-MT) def. Volodymyr Kashytski (BYUHMT) 6-1, 6-2
3. Guillermo Ucelay (BYUHMT) def. Milliken, Daniel (PLNU-MT) 7-5, 7-5
4. Wei-Feng Lee (BYUHMT) def. Tenbroeck, James (PLNU-MT) 1-6, 6-1, 6-2
5. Erion, CJ (PLNU-MT) def. Simon Guillin (BYUHMT) 6-4, 6-0
6. Peng Dai (BYUHMT) def. Alston, Jack (PLNU-MT) 7-5, 6-4
 
Doubles competition
1. Staab, Andre/Milliken, Daniel (PLNU-MT) def. Simon Guillin/Guillermo Ucelay (BYUHMT) 8-5
2. Peng Dai/Wei-Feng Lee (BYUHMT) def. von Braun, Adrian/Alston, Grant (PLNU-MT) 8-4
3. Blaho, Martin/Tenbroeck, James (PLNU-MT) def. Ibrahim Karmadzhe/Colton Pate (BYUHMT) 9-7
 
Match Notes
BYU-Hawaii 5-2; National ranking #21; Regional ranking #4
Point Loma 6-9; National ranking #27; Regional ranking #5
T-4:21 A-66