Hawaii Pacific’s march to two tennis titles continued Thursday with the Sea Warrior men and women advancing to Friday’s semifinals of the NCAA Division II National Tennis Championships at Altamonte Springs, Fla.
Both the second-ranked Sea Warrior men (22-0) and fifth-ranked women (20-6) will face powerhouse Barry.
The HPU women opened Thursday morning play winning two of three doubles matches and — after a four-hour weather delay — finished off No. 9 Columbus (Ga.) State 5-3 in the afternoon to advance to their second consecutive semifinal.
The Sea Warrior men returned to the Sanlando Park courts Thursday afternoon for a rain-delayed 5-0 sweep of No. 38 Southwest (Mo.) Baptist. No. 3 Barry (25-2) also won a rain-delayed quarterfinal, topping No. 6 Concordia (N.Y.), 5-1.
Lorena Gheorghe’s 6-4, 6-0 win over Camila Tobar at No. 4 singles clinched the match for the Sea Warrior women. The Cougars (22-5) had closed to 4-3 with a win at No. 2 when No. 16 Beatriz Leon defeated Celina Goetti 6-3, 6-3.
HPU’s Vivian Hansen was leading her match at No. 5 with Laura Chapman 6-2, 5-3 when the contest was called.
The Sea Warriors will face No. 1 Barry (26-1), who won it all in 2011, at 3 a.m. Hawaii time Friday. The Buccaneers swept Southwest Baptist Thursday to advance to their fourth national semifinals in five years.
Then-No. 3 Barry topped HPU 5-2 on March 22 in Florida, a contest that came in the middle of an 11-day, eight-match, three-state road trip for the Sea Warriors.
On the men’s side, the Sea Warriors went up 3-0 against the Bearcats (13-10) after doubles play, including an 8-0 win at No. 2 by Jaume Martinez-Vich and Mattis Wetzel. HPU closed out the match with 6-0, 6-0 singles wins at Nos. 4 and 5 by Adriano Locorotondo and Clemens Graute, respectively.
The Sea Warriors edged the Buccaneers 5-4 on March 22 in Florida, the win coming in the middle of the same long road trip as the women. Friday’s match with the Buccaneers is scheduled for 7 a.m. Hawaii time.
