HPU tennis teams win, BYUH women fall at NCAAs

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No. 2 Hawaii Pacific needed two days to advance in the NCAA Division II Men’s Tennis Championships in Altamonte Springs, Fla.

The undefeated Sea Warriors (21-0) began its weather-delayed Round of 16 match with No. 6 Columbus (Ga.) State on Wednesday evening and finished a 5-0 sweep of the Cougars early Thursday morning. The match was delayed by more than six hours at the Sanlando Park Tennis Complex.

HPU swept the three doubles matches against the Cougars (20-4), including an 8-6 victory by top-ranked Petr Michnev-Thibaud Berland over fifth-ranked Adi Malicbegovic-Marco Alimorin. Berland’s 7-5, 6-1 win at No. 3 singles over Malicbegovic clinched the match for the Sea Warriors, who were leading the remaining three matches when the competition was called.

HPU will meet either Bluefield State (17-3) or Southwest Baptist (12-9) Thursday in the Elite Eight.

In the women’s tournament, Hawaii Pacific swept its opening match to advance, while Brigham Young-Hawaii’s undefeated season came to a stunning halt Wednesday

The third-ranked Seasiders, last year’s national runners-up, dropped their final three singles matches to No. 6 St. Leo (Fla.) in a 5-4 loss. BYUH ends the year at 26-1, while the Lions (21-5) advance to Thursday’s quarterfinals.

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The Seasiders, seeking their 12th national title, hadn’t lost since May 11, 2013, when they fell to Armstrong (Ga.) Atlantic in the championship match, 5-2. In Wednesday’s Round of 16, the Seasiders trailed 2-1 after the doubles portion, but rallied for a 4-2 lead with straight-set singles wins at Nos. 1, 4 and 5.

The final singles matches all went to a third set. Markika Kobayashi fell to Anastasia Wagner, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 at No. 3 and fifth-ranked and previously unbeaten Min Liu lost 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 to Laura Kemkes to tie it at 4-4.

The deciding point came at No. 6, where St. Leo’s Adrianna Daszkiewicz prevailed 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 over BYUH’s Jin Jin Han.

The fourth-ranked Sea Warriors (19-6) also saw rain and lightning affect their match against No. 18 Midwestern State, but HPU prevailed 5-0 over the Mustangs (23-4).

All three doubles teams won to give the Sea Warriors a 3-0 lead. HPU needed just two singles victories to close out the match, getting them at No. 4 with Lorena Gheorghe’s 6-2, 6-2 win over Courtney Anderson, and at No. 6 with Lea Kruse-Utermann’s 6-3, 6-2 win over Paige Boykin.

The Sea Warriors take on No. 6 Columbus (Ga.) State on Thursday.