(SURPRISE, Ariz.) Second-seeded PLNU Men's Tennis had one foot in the door of the PacWest Championship match, leading 3-1 against third-seeded Azusa Pacific on Friday afternoon.
But the Cougars stormed back to win the final three singles matches to beat the Sea Lions, 4-3, albeit with some controversy.
With the overall match tied at 3-3, the outcome came down to the result of the No. 2 singles content.
Tyler Davis valiantly fought back from a 2-6 first set defeat to win the second set 6-2. He trailed 5-6 in the third set but held serve to force a tiebreak.
Davis led early in the tiebreak after an ace and would have extended his lead further had his out call not been overturned by the official despite no objections from his opponent about the initial call.
PLNU's No. 2 singles player overcame that to earn match point, which APU's player saved with an ace of his own. Davis pulled out his bag of tricks to save one match point with a cheeky drop shot that caused his opponent to fall to the ground.
But ultimately the Cougars came out victorious, winning an epic tiebreak 9-7.
"The men's team lost a tough one today," Head Coach Curt Wheeler said in the aftermath. "They competed well and brought the intensity on every court."
The match started brightly for the Sea Lions, with
Nabeel Khan and
Elias Weeks cruising to a 6-1 win at No. 3 doubles, before Davis and
David Strassburger clinched the doubles point with their 6-4 win at No. 2 following a Strassburger overhand slam at the net.
With the first set at No. 1 singles tied at 2-2,
Alexander Leischner got back-to-back breaks to win the first set 6-2 before taking the second set by the same margin.
At No. 6, Khan got a late break of serve in the first set to win his first set, 6-4. He then showed incredible hustle in the second set, sliding to reach a ball hit over his head that caused him to get his foot stuck at the base of the chain link fence where the court ended.
Khan managed to shake off the injury scare and earn a break at 2-2, helping him go on to win the second set 6-3 and put the Sea Lions one singles win away from victory.
Strassburger won his first set at No. 5, 6-1, and got a break of serve to start the second set, but his opponent came back to win the final two sets, 6-3 and 6-1.
Andrew Suver lost his first set at No. 4, 4-6, but managed to force a tiebreak in the second, which then went APU's way, setting up the winner-take-all No. 2 singles match.
Point Loma (17-3 overall) takes on fourth-seeded Concordia on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Third Place Match.
