SAN DIEGO – The Point Loma women's tennis team went toe-to-toe with Division I opponent Villanova by a score of 4-3 on Wednesday, March 4. The match came down to the final two singles play games that ultimately went to the Wildcats.

Point Loma started slow too but picked it up when it mattered. After Ellie Gamble and Rachel Whittington dropped the first doubles match 2-6, PLNU stormed back and won the next two defeating Villanova 6-4 and 6-4 to capture the all-important doubles play point.

Looking to carry over the momentum from doubles play, Point Loam did just that. They got their second point of the match after Taylor McGowan defeated her opponent 6-3 and 6-1. Nova would grab the next three singles points to pull in front 3-2. With two matches still being played Nova needed just one win while PLNU needed to win both. The Wildcats got the win at the No. 3 position and sealed the victory.

Angelique Friedrich defeated her opponent in three sets but it was a fraction late as Nova had already garnered their fourth point needed for the victory.

Words from Wheeler
On today's match: "The match started really well for us. The girls came out and did a great job playing aggressively in doubles. We got a really important doubles point which helped us and had great momentum going into singles. Singles play was a battle. Taylor McGowan did a great job getting a quick point on the board. That helped us obviously going up 2-0. The rest of the matches were battles, they were really tight. Our front three courts all went three matches that could have gone either way. We could have won the match 5-2 or 4-3 but just couldn't grind one out."

On the importance of doubles point: "In matches that you know are going to be close, that first point is huge. One just for their confidence, just knowing you have the lead going into singles and also knowing you played well in doubles. The point also helps carry over momentum which it did and they came out ready to go in singles."

On the road trip ahead: "The biggest thing for us is going to be playing true to their game and game style. Everyone on the team has a slightly different style, strengths, and weaknesses. If you go do that you know you will walk off the court knowing you did everything you could. I think that will be a big thing for us going up to the Bay Area with three very important conference matches."

Team Records
Point Loma 3-4, Villanova 6-1

Up Next
Point Loma will travel to the Bay Area for a three-game road trip that begins Saturday, March 7 at Sonoma State.