FRESNO, Calif.- Every set proved valuable as the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (7-5 overall) picked up a key conference victory with a 4-3 win over the Academy of Art Urban Knights (7-5 overall) Friday afternoon at the Haak Tennis Complex.
 
The Sunbirds came into the day needing every win they could get over PacWest opponents in order to improve their potential postseason positioning and wound up needing every point, game and set they could grab in a razor thin victory.
 
Lea Falentin and Audrey Ouellet set the Sunbirds out in front with a dominant 6-0 victory in #1 doubles but the Academy of Art evened things in doubles play by scoring a 6-1 win on court no. 3.
 
That left the doubles point up to Nayuma Subba and Elise Leik. The #2 doubles pairing for FPU battled into a tiebreaker, fending off their opponents 7-6 (8-6) in an extended battle to take the lead before singles play.
 
That proved crucial as the Sunbirds and Urban Knights exchanged points until the very end.
 
Sanne Brull extended FPU's lead when her opponent retired. Brull was up 3-2 in the first set.
 
But the Sunbirds had a retirement of their own and ART U scored a win on court no. 6 to tie the overall score at 2-2.
 
ART U took the lead on Court no. 3 to push FPU to the brink of a loss.
 
But Leik bounced back after dropping the first set and won sets 2 and 3 in convincing fashion to push all eyes to the #1 singles matchup.
 
Falentin went to a tiebreaker in set one, but was edged 7-5 in the first. She bounced back with authority to take the second set 6-0. That was enough momentum as the razor thin third set also tilted in Falentin's favor, earning the win for FPU.
 
The Sunbirds grabbed their closest win of the season in thrilling fashion and will look to build upon the momentum as they continue conference play this weekend.
 
FPU will head to the Bay Area for another key match in conference play, taking on Dominican Sunday morning at 11 a.m.
 
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