Doubles Do It, Down Sea Lions, 6-3

(2/25/08 - Men's Tennis) IRVINE - Host Concordia swept all three doubles points and used an even split at singles to earn a crucial 6-3 win over #7-ranked Point Loma Nazarene, Monday afternoon in Golden State Athletic Conference play.

The 17th-ranked Eagles picked up perhaps the biggest win since men's tennis was reborn two seasons ago by holding off the Sea Lions (4-3, 1-2 GSAC). The Eagles climbed as high as 5th place in the GSAC standings last season, but missed out on the postseason and a chance at the NAIA Men's Tennis Championships.

This time around, the Eagles excelled in a place where they have struggled to get points against difficult opposition in the past two seasons.

The Eagles were made to work for each doubles point, but managed to get the necessary points to earn the win. Augusto Elias teamed with newcomer Olivier Fabre at the #3 position to squeak out a 9-7 win over Craig Johnson and Travis Albaugh.

In singles play, the Eagles again relied on the strong play of #1-player Tim Kpulun. The all-American picked up one of two straight-sets wins on the day, 6-1, 6-2 over Joel Myers, while Fabre completed a perfect day by winning at #4 singles, 6-3, 6-4.

Concordia (5-0, 2-0 GSAC) faces another stern test this Saturday, March 1 during a visit to #2-ranked Azusa Pacific at Citrus College starting at 1:00 p.m.

Concordia 6
Point Loma Nazarene 3

Singles
#1 Tim Kpulun (CU) def. Joel Myers (PLNU) 6-1, 6-2
#2 Curt Wheeler (PLNU) def. Augusto Elias (CU) 6-2, 6-7, 6-3
#3 Daniel Ndlela (CU) def. Jonathan Bowman (PLNU) 7-6, 6-7, 6-3
#4 Olivier Fabre (CU) def. Craig Johnson (PLNU) 6-3, 6-4
#5 Travis Albaugh (PLNU) def. Chris Nguyen (CU) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4
#6 Landon Hilker (PLNU) def. Bryan Newell (CU) 6-7, 6-4, 7-5

Doubles
#1 Kpulun/ Newell (CU) def. Bowman/ Myers (PLNU) 8-5
#2 Ndlela/Nguyen (CU) def. Wheeler/Hilker (PLNU) 8-6
#3 Elias/ Fabre (CU) def. Johnson/Albaugh (PLNU) 9-7