[Men's Tennis] Hawks Edged 3-4 in Dog Fight at DII Point Loma

POINT LOMA, Calif. – The San Diego Christian men's tennis team is readying to make a statement in 2022. In preparation for the season, the No. 12 ranked Hawks have not backed down from a challenge, scheduling preseason matches with NCAA DI, DII, and DIII teams as well as traveling to take on the top-ranked teams in the NAIA. On Saturday at Point Loma Nazarene, the Hawks nearly toppled the DII Sea Lions.

In doubles, SDCC's top pairing of Chris Papa and Nick Nienhaus cruised past their opponents winning 6-2. The Sea Lions would grab the opening team point, however with victories in the other two doubles matches.

The singles competition put the overall victory up for grabs. Papa and Nienhaus would cruise in their matches 6-3, 6-2, and 6-1, 6-3 respectively putting the Hawks in the driver's seat.

PLNU would take match three, pulling the team competition back into a draw, and then take a second singles point to go up 2-3.

The final two matches would both be dogfights. After taking the first set of his match in a tiebreaker, Luis Hochenauer would drop the second, but come roaring back to take the third, pulling SDCC back to even with PLNU.

In the final, match deciding pairing, SDCC's Julius Kaufman would battle back from a first set 5-7 loss, taking set two 6-3. The effort would come up just short as his Sea Lion opponent would claim the third set handing the Hawks a 3-4 loss.

UP NEXT
The Hawks host a scrimmage against Irvine Valley College Thursday, February 10 before traveling to the University of Redlands to face the NCAA DIII Bulldogs on Saturday, February 12. First serve is scheduled for 1 pm.