(LA MIRADA, Calif.) No. 21 PLNU Men's Tennis made a statement on Tuesday, beating No. 9 Hawaii Pacific 4-3 in a neutral-site match in La Mirada.
 
"The guys played a tremendous match today against HPU," Head Coach Curt Wheeler said. "Every court was a tough battle, but the guys trusted their abilities and hard work in the big moments, which made the difference today."
 
The victory against the preseason pick to win the conference stakes the Sea Lions' claim as one of the favorites to win the PacWest Championship in April.
 
The preseason top-three teams in the conference are now 1-1 against each other this season. Azusa Pacific, picked to finish third in the PacWest this year, beat Point Loma 5-2 on Feb. 17, after HPU took care of APU six days before that, 6-1.
 
PLNU, HPU and APU are all ranked in the top-21 teams nationally, with the latest ITA Division II Collegiate Tennis rankings set to be released on Wednesday.
 
"The men's team can compete with any team in the country and they proved that today," Wheeler said.
 
A pair of 6-3 victories for the Sea Lions in doubles gave Point Loma an early 1-0 lead, with Alexander Leischner and Tyler Davis teaming up to win at No. 1, before Fabian Penzkofer and Elias Weeks followed suit at No. 2.
 
Penzkofer won the first singles match to finish, claiming a 6-3, 6-1 victory at No. 3. Davis then carried his momentum from doubles into singles, moving up to the No. 1 position to record a 6-1, 7-6 win that put the Sea Lions one point away from victory.
 
Then after dropping the first set of his No. 6 singles match, Nabeel Khan won a second-set tiebreak before steamrolling in the third set to come away with a 4-6, 7-6, 6-0 win that clinched PLNU's fifth-straight victory.
 
Point Loma (7-1) has now won five-straight matches heading into Friday's home showdown with Holy Names at 10 a.m.