SAN DIEGO - The No. 19 Point Loma women's tennis team earned its biggest victory of the season, knocking off No. 9 UC San Diego, 6-3, on Thursday, Apr. 6.
 
The Sea Lions have now won back-to-back matches and six of their last eight to improve to 14-6 on the season. The loss drops the Tritons to 15-4.
 
Point Loma did exactly what it needed to all match to pull the upset. It got great doubles play, competitive singles matches on all six courts and the right attitude. Earlier this season the Tritons edged the Sea Lions in La Jolla, 5-4, but no one would even know that when the ball dropped.
 
PLNU seized control of the match early, winning doubles matches two of the three doubles matches. Ellie Gamble and Nicole Camaratta paired up to win 8-3 on court 3 and even the match at 1-1. Nikki Newell and Regina von Koch added an 8-5 win at No. 1 doubles to propel PLNU to the lead.
 
In singles, Taylor McGowan put her opponent away in straight sets on court 5, 6-4 and 6-3. UCSD answered with wins on courts 1 and 6 to tie the match at 3-3, and the Sea Lions could have folded but instead they stepped up and their actions echoed the words coach Wheeler has been preaching all season.
 
"In tennis mental toughness is one of the most important factors of success and something I believe in, especially when you have two teams with very similar ability it is the team that is more mentally tough is going to win," said Point Loma head coach Curt Wheeler. "Today I felt we were the more mentally tough team and when things didn't go our way. We were able to reset and refocus quickly on the positive processes that are going to make us successful."
 
The Sea Lions responded with three straight three-set victories to lift the team to one of the biggest wins in the coach Wheeler era. Shelby Groeneveld brought PLNU within one point of victory with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win on court 3. Regina von Koch then closed out her match 6-1, 6-7, 6-2 as Michelle Torres followed just moments later with a 6-7, 6-3, 6-1 win on court 4 to give PLNU the 6-3 victory.
 
"This win comes at a great time," said Wheeler. "We have had a couple losses that didn't go our way and they can be difficult to bounce back from but the mental toughness showed today by bouncing back and truly playing our best tennis of the entire year. That is very big for us heading into the conference championships which are only two weeks away and we need to be playing our best tennis to hopefully make a postseason run."
 
PLNU will go on the road this Saturday (Apr. 8) to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and then host Concordia next Thursday (Apr. 13) before playing in the PacWest Championships on Apr. 19-22 in Surprise, Ariz. 

#19 Point Loma 6, #9 UC San Diego 3
Apr 06, 2017 at San Diego, CA (PLNU Tennis Courts) 
Singles competition
1. Britta Mosser (UCSD) def. Nikki Newell (PLNU-WT) 6-3, 7-6
2. Regina von Koch (PLNU-WT) def. Ashley Chao (UCSD) 6-1, 6-7, 6-2
3. Shelby Groeneveld (PLNU-WT) def. Becky Chou (UCSD) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
4. Michelle Torres (PLNU-WT) def. Jasmine Hosseini (UCSD) 6-7, 6-3, 6-1
5. Taylor McGowan (PLNU-WT) def. Alexandra Weil (UCSD) 6-4, 6-3
6. Valeria Corral (UCSD) def. Ellie Gamble (PLNU-WT) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Nikki Newell/Regina von Koch (PLNU-WT) def. Shannon Theisen/Britta Mosser (UCSD) 8-5
2. Ashley Chao/Becky Chou (UCSD) def. Shelby Groeneveld/Taylor McGowan (PLNU-WT) 8-3
3. Ellie Gamble/Nicole Camaratta (PLNU-WT) def. Alexandra Weil/Madison Hale (UCSD) 8-3

Match Notes
UC San Diego 15-4; National ranking #9; Regional ranking #3
Point Loma 14-6; National ranking #19; Regional ranking #6
Order of finish: Doubles (); Singles (5,1,6,3,2,4)
T-3:58 A-59