IRVINE, CA – The Sunbird tandem of Nicolas Ernst and Fabio Silva overcame a huge deficit at No. 3 doubles to spark Fresno Pacific's 9-0 win over 5th-ranked Concordia in Irvine on Wednesday.

The Sunbirds remain tied atop the GSAC standings with Cal Baptist at 10-1 (13-1 overall). Concordia drops their third GSAC match of the year and stand at 11-4 (7-3 GSAC).

Ernst and Silva trailed the Eagles' Tom Young and Ryan McNamara 2-6 with two breaks of serve before mounting a furious comeback. 

A big service delivered by Ernst in the tiebreaker completed a 9-8 (5) comeback win.

In singles play, Fresno Pacific won all six singles matches in decisive straight sets.

Up next, the Sunbirds travel to Boise, Idaho to compete in the Boise State Spring Break Invitational Tournament from March 27-28th.

In addition to NAIA Fresno Pacific, the tournament features seven NCAA Division I programs (Ball State, Boise State, Idaho State, Memphis, Nebraska, Sacramento State, and South Alabama).

Boise State is the tournament's top seed, checking in at No. 23 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division I rankings.

ITA No. 44 Nebraska, is the tournament's No. 2 seed.

The tournament utilizes a compass draw format, guaranteeing three overall matches for all participating teams.

Fresno Pacific's first round match is against South Alabama (7-7) on Friday, March 27th.  Match time is scheduled for 9:00 a.m.

Box Score:

March 25, 2009

Lower Peters Canyon Community Park

Irvine, CA

No. 4 Fresno Pacific No. 5 Concordia

Doubles:

Alex Gonzalez/Vicente Joli (FPU) def. Olivier Fabre/Andrey Potapkin 8-6

Maxime Adam/Marco Foelz (FPU) def. Augusto Elias/Bruno Santarelli 8-3

Nicolas Ernst/Fabio Silva (FPU) def. Ryan McNamara/Tom Young 9-8 (5)

Fresno Pacific led 3-0 after doubles – Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

Order of finish:

Singles:

Fabio Silva (FPU) Augusto Elias

Vicente Joli (FPU) def. Andrey Potapkin 6-3, 6-4

Alex Gonzalez (FPU) Kareem Berdai 6-0, 6-2

Marco Foelz (FPU) Bruno Santarelli 6-1, 6-4

Maxime Adam (FPU) def. Olivier Fabre 6-4, 6-4

Jose Hilla (FPU) def. Tom Young 6-0, 6-2

*Denotes clinching match – Order of finish: 3, 2*, 4, 1, 5, 6

Records: Fresno Pacific (13-1, 10-1 GSAC)

               Concordia (11-4, 7-3 GSAC)