(AZUSA, Calif.) In a high-profile matchup between two nationally-ranked PacWest teams, No. 21 PLNU Men's Tennis was handed its first loss of the season, 5-2, at No. 18 Azusa Pacific on Friday afternoon.
 
Five of the six singles matches that were played went the distance, with APU winning three of those. Out of the five tiebreaks needed to decide sets in both singles and doubles, the Cougars also won three.
 
"The men's team had a lot of opportunities today against APU, but were not able to capitalize enough," Head Coach Curt Wheeler said. "The team is looking forward to getting back on the tennis courts tomorrow at PLNU."
 
Alexander Leischner and Tyler Davis cruised at No. 1 doubles, winning 6-2, before APU won at No. 3, setting up the finish at No. 2 to decide who claimed the doubles point.
 
Fabian Penzkofer and Nabeel Khan reached a tiebreak, but the Cougars prevailed to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Leischner (7-6, 3-6, 6-3) and Penzkofer (2-6, 6-4, 6-3) then won their singles matchups at No. 1 and 3 respectively.
 
Khan won his first set at No. 5, 6-3, before dropping a tiebreak in the second set and falling 4-6 in the third.
 
At No. 2, Davis bounced back from a tiebreak loss in the first set to win 6-2 in the second, but fell on the wrong side of a 4-6 third set.
 
David Strassburger won a first-set tiebreak, 8-6, but lost the next two, 4-6, 3-6.
 
Lukas Schuster was also competitive at No. 6 in his 4-6, 4-6 defeat.
 
Point Loma (2-1 overall) will look to return to its winning ways on Saturday, when the Sea Lions host Redlands at 2 p.m.