(SAN DIEGO) PLNU Men's Tennis extended its winning streak to three matches with a hard-fought 5-2 victory on Saturday over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, ranked No. 5 in NCAA Division III.
 
"The entire day was a battle," Head Coach Curt Wheeler said. "It really didn't look like either team had much of an advantage until the very end with four singles matches going the distance being three-set matches and all could've gone either way.
 
"Luckily the guys brought their best tennis in the big moments."
 
The Sea Lions picked up the doubles point with a pair of 6-4 wins at No. 1 and No. 3, from the duos of Alexander Leischner/Tyler Davis and Alejandro Castaneda/Nabeel Khan.
 
"That doubles point was huge," Wheeler said. "Any time we play a match where the score is likely going to be close, getting that first point is huge obviously. It's one fourth of the way to four points, but also the momentum and confidence that goes along with that helps. It carried the guys into singles with a lot of confidence."
 
Davis started singles off strongly for the Sea Lions with a 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 2.
 
Then Khan (7-6, 3-6, 7-5), David Strassburger (6-4, 2-6, 7-5) and Fabian Penzkofer (1-6, 6-2, 7-5) won their singles matches in three sets to close out the victory.
 
"The guys have been playing with a lot of confidence this year," Wheeler said. "I feel that confidence has been growing and this is another one on the list against a team that's always competing for a national championship at the Division III level."
 
Point Loma (5-1 overall) returns to the PLNU Tennis Courts on Monday at noon to play against Fresno Pacific.