Indian Wells, AZ- Sitting one match win away from clinching the GSAC Tournament Championship, top seeded Arizona Christian came up short in the last two matches as they lost 5-4 to second seed Westmont.  Sophomore Scott Wheeler won both of his matches while Junior Marcelo Balderrama rolled through his singles match.

Beginning the morning with doubles, the Firestorm (15-12) grabbed the first two matches at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.  Court two featuring Senior Ezequiel Suarez and Sophomore Enzo Douillac saw ACU earn the 8-5 win.  Wheeler and Junior Luka Stanivukovic followed close behind with an 8-6 victory. On court three, Sophomore Alberto Lapiedra and Senior Seth Moore were tied at 4-4 but lost serve and came up short 8-6.

Transitioning to singles, Arizona Christian was ahead 2-1 before the Warriors (13-7) grabbed the first singles win to tie the match at 2-2.

Balderrama answered with an impressive 6-1 and 6-0 win on court four to push ACU back in front 3-2.

Westmont once again tied the score at 3-3 with a win on court three before Wheeler delivered the 6-4 and 6-3 win on court five to place the Firestorm in position for the team win.

Lapiedra tried to seal the deal but he ended up on the short end of a double 6-4 score to find the match tied a third time at 4-4.

Things looked good after Moore won his first set 6-3 on court six.  But with the second set locked up at 5-5, Moore fell in the last two games to setup the all decisive third and final set.  Unfortunately, WC's Luke Barnard controlled the final set for the 6-2 win.

Assistant Coach Kurt Bishop commented, "We had high expectations coming into the tournament.  While we are obviously disappointed at how things turned out, we are confident that we are well positioned and ready for the national championships in Mobile.

Bishop added, "These men fought with everything they had and left it all out on the court.  They did not give up."

Without the automatic qualification of winning the conference tournament, Arizona Christian will rely on their regular season GSAC championship and number seven ranking to advance to the NAIA National Championships in Mobile, AL, on May 16-20.