(SURPRISE, Ariz.) PLNU Women's Tennis won a first ever PacWest championship in dramatic fashion, defeating No. 5 seed Biola by a score of 4-3 on Saturday to earn the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA West Regional.
No. 2 seed Point Loma led 3-1 overall after taking the doubles point and singles victories from
Anna Pallencaoe (No. 6) and
Emely Valencia (No. 5).
But Biola battled back to tie the match at 3-3, meaning the champion would be decided by the outcome on the No. 3 singles court.
Antonia Barth lost a first-set tiebreak at No. 3 but came back to win the final two sets by a 6-3 margin and lift PLNU to its first ever conference title.
Barth and Biola's Dafne Andres traded breaks of serve for each of the first four games of the third set before each held serve to make it 3-3 in the final stanza.
The Sea Lions' No. 3 then broke her opponent once more to regain the momentum, which she continued by winning four of the five points on her own serve to take a 5-3 advantage.
Barth then dominated in what proved to be the final game, etching her name in Point Loma folklore when Biola double faulted to end the match.
That came after Barth teamed up with
Alina Kupfer to win 6-0 at No. 2 doubles, which allowed
Arianna Audelo and
Quin Brady to clinch the doubles point with their 6-3 victory at No. 1. With Audelo and Brady leading 5-3, PLNU's No. 1 duo broke their opponent's serve to win the deuce point and put the Sea Lions up 1-0 as a team.
That doubles point proved to be the difference between the two sides, with Pallencaoe (6-0, 6-2) and Valencia (7-5, 0-6, 6-3) winning on their respective singles courts along with Barth – 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-3.
Pallencaoe was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after going a combined 5-0 in singles and doubles over the last three days.
Point Loma (18-4 overall) now awaits its seeding in the four-team NCAA West Regional, set to take place either May 12 or 13.
POSTMATCH INTERVIEW
