SAN DIEGO – The MSU Denver women's tennis team lost to the No. 6 regionally ranked Point Loma (Calif.) Sea Lions 6-1 in their third match in as many days on Wednesday, while the men also suffered a similar fate to the women by losing 6-1 in what will be their final match of the road trip.

Helena Steenberg got the call to play No. 1 singles, and she did not disappoint. She was the only point winner for the Roadrunners after she won a grueling three-set match. Steenberg won the first set 6-3, but then lost in a tiebreak for the second set 6-7 (3). She did not get fazed by the long second set, and she regrouped to win the third 6-4.

"Helena had a great win at singles," MSU Denver coach Josh Graetz said. "She is playing some great tennis."

Although the score shows a lopsided defeat, the women played some tight matches across the board. It all started in the doubles matches where the Roadrunners were one match away from stealing another point from the Lions.

"The ladies let the doubles point slip," Graetz said. "I thought we were right there and didn't take our chances."

Marie Cool and Gala Castello won a tight 7-5 match to give the Roadrunners hope for the doubles point as they tied it up 1-1. Unfortunately, Steenberg and Lilly Stienemeier fell on the wrong side of a 7-5 contest, which led to Point Loma earning the first point of the day.

On the singles court, Castello and Kayla Myburgh were each able to come back from one set down to force a decisive third set, but their momentum fizzled out as the Sea Lions were able to hold on to defeat the Roadrunners.  

Isabel Heras took on the challenge of playing No. 2 singles, and after a rough first set loss 6-1, she fought back to force a tiebreak in the second, but ultimately lost.

In the men's dual, Daniel Llorente and Mateo Besada were able to sneak a win at No. 1 doubles by a slim margin of 7-5 to tie the score at 1-1. But Billy McDermott and Alejandro Martinez-Morilla weren't able to walk away with the same result, as they were in a tight match before losing 7-5.

"The men's loss is difficult to handle," Graetz said. "We didn't take our opportunity in doubles, but we fought our heart out in singles."

The men then dropped the first two singles matches at Nos. 1 and 2 to fall into a difficult hole to try to come out of.

"We went down 3-0 early, but for a while our last four matches were up in the air," Graetz said. "Unfortunately, we couldn't finish."

After going down 3-0 in the dual, the final four tennis matches were a battle. Besada kicked it off by winning at No. 4 singles to give the Roadrunners their only point of the match. He battled in the first set to win a tiebreak 7-6 (3), and then he stayed focused to win the second set 6-3.

The Roadrunners then saw a glimpse of hope as Martinez-Morilla, David Kijak and Jeanloup Auzias all forced a third set after dropping their first set. Martinez-Morilla arguably had the most heartbreaking defeat by losing his third set in a tiebreak to give the Sea Lions a point.
 
Kijak and Auzias both lost the third set in their matches as well, which gave Point Loma the 6-1 victory.

The women look to bounce back against nationally ranked Concordia-Irvine (Calif.) for their fourth and final dual on their California road trip. The women will take the court at 9 a.m. against the No. 23 ranked Eagles. The men's match against Concordia-Irvine has been canceled, and their next match will be at home on April 3 at 9:30 a.m. against Seward County CC (Kansas).

RESULTS
Women: Point Loma 6, MSU Denver 1
DOUBLES
No. 1 Gabi Armas/Angelique Friedrich (PLNU) def. Helena Steenberg/Lilly Stienemeier, 7-5
No. 2 Marie Cool/Gala Castello (MSUD) def. Samantha Neilson/Faith Pearson, 7-5
No. 3 Rachel Whittington/Thelma Sepulveda (PLNU) def. Isabel Heras/Kayla Myburgh, 6-4 
SINGLES
No 1. Helena Steenberg (MSUD) def. Angelique Friedrich, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-4
No 2. Thelma Sepulveda (PLNU) def. Isabel Heras, 6-1, 7-6 (10-4)
No 3. Faith Pearson (PLNU) def. Gala Castello, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-2
No 4. Rachel Whittington (PLNU) def. Lilly Stienemeier, 6-4, 6-1
No 5. Gabi Armas (PLNU) def. Marie Cool, 6-4, 6-2
No 6. Samantha Neilson (PLNU) def. Kayla Myburgh, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
 
Men: Point Loma 6, MSU Denver 1
DOUBLES
No. 1 Mateo Besada/Daniel Llorente (MSUD) def. Tales Silva/Alejandro Castaneda, 7-5
No. 2 Tyler Davis/Lukas Schuster (PLNU) def. Jeanloup Auzias/Jack McDermott, 6-3
No. 3 David Strassburger/Jasdeep Paintal (PLNU) def. Billy McDermott/Alejandro Martinez-Morilla, 7-5 
SINGLES
No. 1 Tyler Davis (PLNU) def. Daniel Llorente, 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 Tales Silva (PLNU) def. Jack McDermott, 6-4, 6-1
No. 3 David Strassburger (PLNU) def. Alejandro Martinez-Morilla, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (3)
No. 4 Mateo Besada (MSUD) def. Alejandro Castaneda, 7-6 (3), 6-3
No. 5 Lukas Schuster (PLNU) def. David Kijak, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3
No. 6 Jasdeep Paintal (PLNU) def. Jeanloup Auzias, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4