SAN DIEGO - Things were looking great after doubles as the Sea Lions went up 2-1 and then again when they took a 4-3 lead, but No. 17 UC San Diego came back to win the last two singles matches in three sets to defeat the No. 29 ranked Point Loma men's tennis team, 5-4, on Senior Day (Apr. 9).
 
The Sea Lions won tough matches at No. 1 doubles with Daniel Milliken/Andre Staab and at No. 2 doubles with CJ Erion/Adrian von Braun, 8-3 and 8-5, respectively. At No. 3 doubles, Martin Blaho/Daniel Milliken forced an extra set but the Tritons held on after talking the 7-6 lead for the 9-7 victory.
 
That 2-1 lead for Point Lom was short-lived as UC San Diego won on courts 3 and 4 to temporarily go in front 3-2. Blaho tied it back up with a straight-set victory on court 2, 6-0 and 7-6 (7-2). Andre Staab had to go to the third set but the senior prevailed 6-2, 2-6 and 6-3 to put Point Loma back in front 4-3.
 
UC San Diego answered with its first three-set victory of the day as Riku Hashiyada won on court 6 over Adrian von Braun, 4-6, 6-4 and 6-3, to bring it all down to the No. 5 court. UCSD's Horea Porutiu won the first set in a tiebreaker 7-2 before PLNU's CJ Erion answered back with a 6-4 win in the second set. The two battled with both teams looking on but Porutiu was able to find just a couple more winners in the third set to pick up the victory and ultimately give the Tritons the match.
 
The loss completes the Sea Lions' regular season. PLNU went 10-12 this year while UCSD was 13-7.
 
The Sea Lions said goodbye to its four seniors Martin Blaho, Andre Staab, Daniel Milliken and James Tenbroeck with a ceremony prior to the match. Each of them was playing their final home match on the PLNU Tennis Courts, but it will not be the final matches of their career.  
 
The Point Loma men's tennis team will travel to the PacWest Championships in Surprise, Ariz., on Apr. 13-16 to compete in the eight-team tournament for the automatic bid to the three-team NCAA Super Regional.