SAN DIEGO - Things were not going the way the No. 29 Point Loma women's tennis team had envisioned after singles, as they could have won all six but instead found themselves down 4-2 heading to doubles. However, with their backs against the wall, and no room for error, every member of the Sea Lions stepped up to win their doubles match and earn a 5-4 comeback victory over No. 23 nationally ranked Azusa Pacific on Saturday, Feb. 11.
 
Michelle Torres and Shelby Groeneveld brought the Sea Lions (3-0) within one point with an 8-4 win at No. 2 doubles. Shortly after Nicole Camaratta and Ellie Gamble closed out their opponents at No. 3 doubles with an 8-4 win to tie the match at 4-4 and bring it all down to the All-PacWest doubles pair of Nikki Newell and Regina von Koch at No. 1s. The pair built a 6-3 lead but saw APU (1-2) tie it at 7-7 before the Sea Lions won two straight sets to take the match 9-7 and give the Sea Lions the victory.
 
"I haven't been coaching a long time but this is one of the more rollercoaster matches I have experienced," said Point Loma head coach Curt Wheeler. "We lost every close singles match, and I never expected us to be trailing going to doubles, but our ladies did a great job of rebounding and refocusing. Those are things we talk about a lot and they did a great job of resetting and getting back in the mindset of competing.
 
"Doubles are something we have spent a good amount of time working on," Wheeler explained. "All the ladies enjoy playing doubles and really embrace the idea of playing aggressive and I think it is something that can be a big advantage for us against any team we play."
 
This was the Sea Lions' second straight win over a top 25 team. On Thursday, they went on the road and edged out Cal State LA, 5-4.
 
"Our region, especially on the women's side, is very competitive, so that was a big win," said Wheeler. "We play them later in the year at their place, which will obviously be another difficult match, so we did a great job 'holding serve' tonight. Now we want to build on this."
 
PLNU will face its third straight top 25 opponent on Wednesday, Feb. 15 when it travels to No. 13 UC San Diego. The match will start at 2 p.m.
 
"Every regional match is a tough one, especially on the women's side because there are so many quality teams in the West," said Wheeler. "We have had some really good matches with UCSD in the past, so the key for us will be coming out and getting the lead with doubles will be huge. We are looking forward to that already, but we are going to enjoy this win tonight."

#29 Point Loma 5, #23 Azusa Pacific University 4
Singles competition
1. #38 Natalie Johnson (APU) def. #25 Newell,Nikki (PLNU-WT) 6-2, 0-6, 6-3
2. #29 Lisa Schneider (APU) def. Groeneveld,Shelby (PLNU-WT) 5-7, 7-6, 6-2
3. von Koch,Regina (PLNU-WT) def. Valeriia Kashina (APU) 6-3, 6-3
4. Kara Hinton (APU) def. Camaratta,Nicole (PLNU-WT) 4-6, 7-6, 6-3
5. Jackie Resler (APU) def. Torres,Michelle (PLNU-WT) 0-6, 6-1, 6-4
6. McGowan,Taylor (PLNU-WT) def. Tatiana Betancourt (APU) 6-4, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. von Koch,Regina/Newell,Nikki (PLNU-WT) def. Natalie Johnson/Valeriia Kashina (APU) 9-7
2. Groeneveld,Shelby/Torres,Michelle (PLNU-WT) def. Lisa Schneider/Jackie Resler (APU) 8-4
3. Camaratta,Nicole/Gamble,Ellie (PLNU-WT) def. Kara Hinton/Lilit Vardanyan (APU) 8-4

Match Notes
Azusa Pacific University 1-2; National ranking #23
Point Loma 3-0; National ranking #29
T-5:53 A-123