SAN DIEGO – Coming off of a tough loss to Azusa Pacific on Saturday afternoon, the Sea Lions had a quick turnaround hosting Division I Idaho State on Monday. It was a close match all afternoon but it was Point Loma who came away with the slim 4-3 victory.
 
Shelby Groeneveld and Michelle Torres earned a 6-2 at No. 2 doubles to start the match, but the Bengals would pull out two close matches on the other two courts to earn the doubles point. Idaho State earned a 6-3 win on court three before their No. 1 doubles team pulled out a 7-5 win over Gabi Armas and Ellie Gamble, winning the first point of the day.
 
Down a point going into singles play, the Sea Lions stepped up their play and fought for every point. Gabi Armas would earn the first singles point of the afternoon, evening the match at 1-1, after a three set victory in No. 2 singles. The Bengals would once again take the lead after winning the No. 4 singles match in another three set battle. Michelle Torres was able to even the match score once again taking her match in straight sets and coming back from a 4-1 deficit to earn the 7-6 (7-5) second set win.
 
Nicole Camaratta has started the season strong at No. 6 singles earning a point for her team in each match. Today was no different as she gave Point Loma the 3-2 lead, grinding out a 6-4, 7-5 win. Idaho State evened the match a 3-3 with a win in No. 3 singles but it was not easy as Ellie Gamble fell 4-6, 6-7 (9-11), battling for every point in a tiebreak. It came down to No. 1 singles where Shelby Groeneveld, falling in her first set 3-6, roared back for 6-3, 6-1 wins in sets two and three to earn the individual and team win.

Team Records
Point Loma 2-1, Idaho State 3-3

Wheeler's Words
On the effort of his team to fight back in singles play: "Overall we did a great job fighting back as a team and it's why we won the match. On Saturday, I don't think we quite did as well finishing, we weren't as mentally strong, but I think we learned from that. We came back today ready to fight and when we got down, or things didn't go our way, we focused on what we needed to do to get back in it. That showed today, we had multiple matches where we lost the first set or got down in a set and battled back. Shelby had a great match where she lost the first set and battled back to win the second and third. There were a couple of other players who were down in sets and came back to win, so it was a whole team win today, and it's always fun to get a win over a DI school." 

On getting the same competitive fight in doubles play: "The doubles matches, compared to singles, are usually going to be a little closer. It is usually a little more difficult to break serve when you're playing doubles, so it's going to be a lot of close sets. This year we are only playing to six, rather than eight, you don't get quite as big of a window to come back if you don't start well. In those big moments we talk about, as a team, how we need to play confidently and consistently. As the season gets going and we get more experience, I think that we will get better at playing confident and aggressive in those close matches."

On keeping the team prepared for upcoming matches without knowing if the match will be played due to weather: "It's difficult, especially if you don't know if the match will be played or not. I think it is important that our teams get good at being mentally ready and this uncertainty helps that. Even for players who aren't always in the lineup, I want them to stay ready and prepared to go on any day where they may have to sub in due to injury or illness. This is what I focus on with the teams when we are not sure if the match will be played, mental preparedness."

News and Notes
> Point Loma has now won against a Division I opponent in back-to-back seasons (UC Irvine, 2018). 
> Gamble dropped her first doubles contest since March 17 of last year, at Cal State LA.
> Groeneveld has won six of her last seven singles matches.  

Up Next
The Sea Lions will travel across town to face UC San Diego on Thursday, Feb. 14 at 2 p.m.

Results
Box score

Match Notes:
Idaho State 3-3
Point Loma 2-1; National ranking #21
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (2,4,5,6,3,1)
T-3:34 A-32