SAN DIEGO - After a heartbreaking loss on the road to Concordia, the Sea Lions found the resolve to pull out a tough win over Westmont on Friday afternoon, winning 5-4. Doubles was another tough test for PLNU going 1-2, needing at least four points in singles to secure a win. Four wins was exactly what the Sea Lions were able to come away with in singles play to earn a much needed victory. 

Doubles play finished in order with the No. 1 pairing of Thomas Dafcik and Yuki Okamoto grabbing a quick win, 8-3, to give the Sea Lions the 1-0 lead. The Nos. 2 and 3 doubles were more fiercely contested as PLNU fell 8-6 at the No. 2 position and 8-7 at No. 3. 

Westmont carried the 2-1 lead into singles but the Sea Lions made quick work of three matches to grab the lead back at 4-2. Thomas Dafcik carried his performance from doubles into singles, winning his set in dominant fashion, 6-3, 6-1. Dafcik was followed by Tim Soderman winning at No. 6 singles, 6-2, 6-4, and Ben Smit at No. 5 singles winning 6-2, 6-3. those quick wins gave the team the boost they needed to power through the tough matches at Nos. 2-4. Okamoto dropped his No. 3 singles match 5-7, 6-2, 2-6 which allowed the Warriors to get the match to 4-3, still in favor of PLNU. Jack Alston would clinch the match for Point Loma in another tough three-set match, winning 6-7, 7-5, 6-1. 
 
Team Records
Point Loma 3-3, Westmont 2-4

Wheeler's Words
On doubles: "At one point it looked like we were going to win all three of them. No. 1 doubles did a great job coming out with strong play from the beginning and got a quick point for us. We had leads in No. 2 and No. 3 doubles but both Westmont teams made a good push and were able to come away with close wins."

On singles: "I think the guys did a great job of letting go of those tough losses and focusing on singles. We got three pretty quick wins and only needed one more point in our last three matches to take the match. We dropped the first set at our No. 2, 3, and 4, so someone had to battle back for a win. Jack was able to do that for us today, he lost a close first set, battled back in a close second, and played his best tennis and dominated the third set to get us our fifth win."

On the team's struggles in doubles play: "We have used multiple teams to try and find those combinations that are going to work the best for us. I expect that any two guys I pair up will be able to play well together. Even though we have had some tough doubles losses, we have had some great play. We haven't been able to win those big points that can sway a match. We will keep looking for our best options going forward and even though it is tough to take some of those losses, the experience will pay off for us in the end." 

On the two close matches in three days: "One great thing about the match on Wednesday with Concordia was the resiliency and positivity they had after that tough loss. They hated the loss but they knew they could move forward and get better. I was really proud of their attitudes coming out of that because that can be difficult to do coming out of a close match. I think that made the difference today, when you have those tough losses it is important that you can put them behind you and focus on the next match. I believe both of these matches, the one we lost and the one we won, will serve as great learning experiences and give us confidence moving forward."
 
Up Next
Point Loma heads to UC San Diego on Monday, Feb. 26, to finish the match from Feb. 14 that was postponed due to darkness. The match will begin at 2:30 p.m. for singles play, the Tritons held a 2-1 advantage after doubles play was completed.
 
Point Loma 5, Westmont 4
Singles competition
1. Thomas Dafcik (PLNU-MT) def. MATHIS, Christian (WC) 6-3, 6-1
2. WHALEN, Luke (WC) def. CJ Erion (PLNU-MT) 7-5, 5-7, 6-1
3. JOENS, John T. (WC) def. Yuki Okamoto (PLNU-MT) 7-5, 2-6, 6-2
4. Jack Alston (PLNU-MT) def. HALE, Miles (WC) 6-7, 7-5, 6-1
5. Ben Smit (PLNU-MT) def. STRANDNESS, Jordan (WC) 6-2, 6-3
6. Tim Soderman (PLNU-MT) def. STEPHENS, Corey (WC) 6-2, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Thomas Dafcik/Yuki Okamoto (PLNU-MT) def. JOENS, John T./HALE, Miles (WC) 8-3
2. MATHIS, Christian/WHALEN, Luke (WC) def. Jack Alston/Tim Soderman (PLNU-MT) 8-6
3. STRANDNESS, Jordan/STEPHENS, Corey (WC) def. CJ Erion/Grant Alston (PLNU-MT) 8-7