SAN DIEGO – Seventh ranked Hawai'i Pacific University's Marta Ruszczynska grabbed a three-set in the final singles flight remaining to lead HPU to a 4-3 victory over Point Loma on Friday evening at the PLNU Tennis Courts.
 
The No. 7 Sharks (5-1) overcame the loss of the doubles point and took four singles victories to edge the Sea Lions (5-7).
 
The topsy-turvy match started in doubles action.
 
PLNU won at No. 3 doubles with Rachel Whittington and Thelma Sepulveda beating Nicole Ballach and Ruszczynska 6-3, with HPU countering at No. 2 as Elodie Busson and Valentina Mokorova beating Samantha Neilson and Faith Pearson 6-4. The wildness came at No. 1 as Gabi Armas and Angelique Friedrich outlasted the Sharks Marleen Tilgner and Mihoki Miyahara in a tiebreaker 7-6 (11-9) to put the Sea Lions up 1-0.
 
The Sharks quickly answered in singles, as Miyahara took No. 3 by beating Amanda Letzring 6-2, 6-1, and 16th ranked Tilgner won at No. 1 against Friedrich 6-2, 6-3. PLNU tied the match with a win at No. 6 with Neilson defeating Ballach 6-3, 6-3.
 
The Sea Lions grabbed a 3-2 lead with Pearson's 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 4 over Mokorova. But 20th ranked Busson evened the match for the Sharks at No. 2 with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 win against Sepulveda.
 
That left Ruszczynska at No. 5 against Armas. Ruszczynska won the first set 6-4, only to have Armas come back in the second set 6-2. Then in the third, Ruszczynska jumped out to a lead and held on to beat Armas 6-2 to win the point and the match.
 
HPU has one match to go in southern California, and it is a key match nationally and regionally. The seventh ranked Sharks visit No. 9 Azusa Pacific on Saturday. First serve at APU's Munson & Bavougian Tennis Complex in Azusa is set for 7 a.m. HST (10 a.m. PDT).