SAN DIEGO - From the introductions to the opening serve, it was obvious that the No. 37 Point Loma women's tennis team had an extra bounce in their step as they hosted No. 14 Azusa Pacific on Senior Day. Just like last year in the consolation game of the PacWest Championships, the Sea Lions from No. 1-6 stepped up their game when the Cougars took the court and they dealt APU a 6-3 loss.
 
The victory evened the Sea Lions' season record at 9-9. It also snapped a seven-match winning streak for the Cougars, and dropped them to 13-5 on the season.
 
With the men's match to follow, the women began in singles. Senior Hillary Ramage put Point Loma on the scoreboard first with a win at No. 3 singles. She took the first set 6-1 and was just beginning the second set when her opponent retired. APU came back with wins on courts 2 and 4 to temporarily take the lead. Nicole Camaratta did not let that lead stand long as she completed her straight set victory at No. 5 singles 6-3 and 6-1 to even the match back up at 2-2.  
 
Michelle Torres had a unique challenge of switching courts midway through the match to allow the men's team to warm up. She went from court 6 to court 2 after the second set but was unphased as the change in scenery. In fact, she finished off her comeback on court 2. Torres dropped the first set of the match 6-1, but responded valiantly by taking the second set 6-4 and the third set 6-3. It was the freshman's first three-set victory of her career. This guaranteed PLNU at least a tie heading into singles.
 
Nikki Newell was not satisfied with the tie, and willed the Sea Lions another point from her No. 1 singles position. It was not a fast match, and each point had to be earned, but Newell found a way to grind out a 7-5 and 7-5 victory over the No. 18 ranked player nationally, Natalie Johnson. Newell, who is ranked No. 23 nationally, has now won six of her last seven matches.
 
With the 4-2 lead, and needing just one point, the Sea Lions jumped on the chance for victory. Ramage picked up her second victory on Senior Day as she paired with Torres to capture the clinching match point on court 3 8-3. Newell and Regina von Koch added the punctuation mark with an 8-5 win at No. 1 doubles.
 
The Point Loma women's tennis team will have just one more match before playing in the PacWest Championships on Apr. 13-16. The Sea Lions' regular season finale will take place at UC San Diego on Wednesday, Apr. 6 at 2:00 p.m. It will be the second meeting of the year between the two teams.

#37 Point Loma 6, #14 Azusa Pacific 3
Mar 31, 2016 at San Diego, CA (PLNU Tennis Courts) 
Singles competition
1. #23 Newell, Nikki (PLNU-WT) def. #18 Natalie Johnson (APU-WTEN) 7-5, 7-5
2. Lisa Schneider (APU-WTEN) def. von Koch, Regina (PLNU-WT) 6-2, 6-1
3. Ramage, Hillary (PLNU-WT) def. Valeriia Kashina (APU-WTEN) 6-1, 1-2, retired
4. Kara Hinton (APU-WTEN) def. Weissmann, Jen (PLNU-WT) 6-2, 6-3
5. Camaratta, Nicole (PLNU-WT) def. Lilit Vardanyan (APU-WTEN) 6-3, 6-1
6. Torres, Michelle (PLNU-WT) def. Jackie Resler (APU-WTEN) 1-6, 6-4, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. Newell, Nikki/von Koch, Regina (PLNU-WT) def. Natalie Johnson/Kara Hinton (APU-WTEN) 8-5
2. Lilit Vardanyan/Lisa Schneider (APU-WTEN) def. Weissmann, Jen/Mountain, Kirsty (PLNU-WT) 8-2
3. Ramage, Hillary/Torres, Michelle (PLNU-WT) def. Jackie Resler/Lindsey Yeom (APU-WTEN) 8-3

Match Notes
Azusa Pacific 13-5; National ranking #14; Regional ranking #3
Point Loma 9-9; National ranking #37; Regional ranking #8
T-3:46 A-66