KONA, Hawaii - The Sea Lions took on the Vulcans of Hawaii Hilo this afternoon at the Holua Tennis Center in a first round matchup of the NCAA  Men's Tennis Regionals. Point Loma earned the third seed in the region and traveled to take on the No. 2 seeded Vulcans and despite putting up a solid team effort, the Sea Lions fell 5-3. The teams met earlier in the season when Hawaii Hilo visited Point Loma and came away with a 6-3 victory. In that match, Hilo swept doubles play before the teams split in singles competition. 

The Sea Lions looked to rewrite the narrative from their first meeting and came out strong in doubles play. Hawaii Hilo would get on the board first with the No. 23 doubles pair in the country defeating Brendon Millingotn and Jack Alston 8-2 in No. 1 doubles. Seniors, CJ Erion and Grant Alston, would even the match at 1-1 after earning a huge win at No. 3 doubles, 8-6, giving Point Loma early life. To round out doubles play, Thomas Dafcik and Yuki Okamoto were pushed to a tiebreak match after having an early lead, but they were able to come away with the 10-8 win in the tiebreak giving PLNU the 2-1 lead heading into singles play. 

The Vulcans were able to turn up the intensity in singles play and took three quick matches putting them in the lead 4-2. They earned quick wins at Nos. 2, 4, and 5 singles but the other three courts were in tough, extended battles. After going down 4-2, Thomas Dafcik would give the Sea Lions another point after winning a three-set battle over the 31st ranked singles player in the country. With only two courts left playing, both Okamoto and Soderman were looking at three-set battles that would need to turn in their favor. Soderman would not get to finish his match as Chun En Wu of Hawaii Hilo earned a 6-3 win in the third set of his match over Okamoto to give the win to the Vulcans. 

Team Records
Point Loma 14-10, Hawaii Hilo 17-2   

Up Next
The Vulcans will move on to the NCAA Tennis Nationals being played in Surprise, Ariz. next week. Overall, the Sea Lions had one of their most successful season in recent history and their best season since joining the NCAA. The team will look to repeat their successes next year and hopefully earn another berth in the regional tournament.

#15 Hawaii Hilo 5, Point Loma 3
Singles competition
1. #37 Thomas Dafcik (PLNU-MT) def. #31 Vaclav Slezak (UHH-MT) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0
2. #49 Alessandro Giuliato (UHH-MT) def. Brendon Millington (PLNU-MT) 6-0, 6-1
3. Chun En Wu (UHH-MT) def. Yuki Okamoto (PLNU-MT) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
4. Alex Fillat Perez (UHH-MT) def. CJ Erion (PLNU-MT) 6-2, 6-4
5. Arturo Dell'Eva (UHH-MT) def. Jack Alston (PLNU-MT) 6-4, 6-1
6. Gregory Zukeran (UHH-MT) vs. Tim Soderman (PLNU-MT) 2-6, 7-6 (7-2), unfinished

Doubles competition
1. #23 Vaclav Slezak/Alessandro Giuliato (UHH-MT) def. Brendon Millington/Jack Alston (PLNU-MT) 8-2
2. Thomas Dafcik/Yuki Okamoto (PLNU-MT) def. Alex Fillat Perez/Bruno Figlia (UHH-MT) 8-7 (10-8)
3. Grant Alston/CJ Erion (PLNU-MT) def. Gregory Zukeran/Chun En Wu (UHH-MT) 8-6

Match Notes:
Point Loma 14-10
Hawaii Hilo 17-2; National ranking #15
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (2,4,5,1,3)