(SURPRISE, Ariz.) No. 4 seed PLNU Men's Tennis advanced to the PacWest Tournament semifinals with a 4-2 victory over No. 5 seed Hawai'i Hilo in the first round on Wednesday.
Marcos Alogo-Piqueras helped the Sea Lions clinch both the doubles point and the overall victory with his wins at No. 2 doubles and No. 4 singles.
After
Stanislas Noel and
Finn Kirschner rolled to a 6-1 victory at No. 1 doubles, and
David Fisinger and Alogo-Piqueras sealed the doubles point for the Sea Lions with their 6-3 win at No. 2.
Paul Sobich got PLNU going in singles with a win at No. 5 (6-3, 6-0), followed by another straight-set victory (6-3, 6-2) at No. 1 by Noel, the PacWest Newcomer of the Year.
Point Loma then held a 3-2 lead in the match with the No. 3 and 4 singles matches going to a third set.
After losing a first-set tiebreak, Alogo-Piqueras won his second set 6-4 before winning the final three games of set three to claim the third set 6-2 and book PLNU's place in the conference semifinals.
Kirschner also led 5-2 in his third set and was on the verge of clinching the win for the Sea Lions when Alogo-Piqueras did the honors.
Point Loma (8-10 overall) now advances to the PacWest semifinals for the second-straight season and fourth time in the last five.
PLNU will face off against No. 1 seed Azusa Pacific (19-5) at 9 a.m. on Thursday with a spot in the conference championship on the line.
