LA MIRADA, Calif. – No. 26 BYU-Hawaii men's tennis used a strong showing in singles play to claim a 5-2 victory Wednesday over Biola at the Biola Tennis Center
Ibrahim Karmadzha and Ian Galli started strong for the Seasiders (5-1) with a commanding 8-0 victory to open doubles play. Phil Westwood and Luke Mountain of Biola (2-6) traded games with Guillermo Ucelay Pueyo and Simon Guillin before breaking serve to take the 9-8 win and level the team match. Lucas Lee and Derek James broke serve to take a 6-5 lead in a tight match with BYU-Hawaii's Sterling Galli and Chia-Hua Lu, and maintained the momentum to take a 9-7 win.
Lu topped David Garcia 6-0, 6-1 to even the match for the Seasiders and get momentum back on their side. Guillin finished close behind with a 6-1, 6-1 win, while Ucelay took a 6-2, 6-1 victory over his Eagle opponent.
With victory in BYU-Hawaii's sights, the teams split the first two sets on the remaining courts. S. Galli rebounded from a 6-4 loss in the first set with a 6-3 victory in the second. With momentum on his side, S. Galli made quick work of the third set with a 6-0 victory to give the Seasiders the victory.
BYU-Hawaii will take on Concordia Irvine Wednesday at 3 p.m. PST in Irvine, California.