DENVER, Colo. (May 19, 2016) – The Hawaii Pacific men's and women's tennis teams notched victories in the Elite Eight quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division II Tennis Tournaments on Thursday at Gates Tennis Center and Metro State University.
The third-ranked HPU men (19-3) defeated No. 8 Valdosta State (18-7) in dramatic, come-from-behind fashion, 5-4, and advanced to Friday's semifinal match against No. 35 Ferris State (25-4) at 2 p.m.
The No. 7 HPU women (18-5) downed No. 15 Cameron University (23-4) 5-1 and advanced to the semifinals to face No. 3 Armstrong State (30-1) on Friday at 11 a.m.
HPU's men claimed one of three doubles matchups as the Sharks duo of
Filip Dolezel and
Jaume Martinez-Vich defeated the No. 25 squad of Leo Blay and Xavier Pineda 8-5.
While they needed to win four of the six singles matchups in order to be victorious, HPU's men did just that as Dolezel (6-1, 6-3 over Jordi Mas) and No. 13
Alexander Meyer (6-3, 6-3 over No. 36 Gereon Heitmann) posted relatively quick wins.
Top-ranked
Thibaud Berland – the reigning PacWest Player of the Year – then outlasted No. 9 Blay 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 6-3 and teammate
Clemens Graute held off Pineda 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-3 to help the Sharks avoid VSU's upset bid.
The HPU women swept the doubles competition thanks in part to its fourth-ranked tandem of
Kristyna Hancarova and
Nicole Hoynaski, which downed No. 15 Alina Gorina and Zhenia Shviadok, 8-2. The No. 20 team of
Syna Kayser and
Lorena Gheorghe cruised to an 8-1 win over Paula Gutierrez and Angie Torres, while
Oceane Adam and
Julia Sauer also notched a win for the Sharks, 8-3, over Mathilde Thibaudat and Samamtha Wood.
Sauer, the 32
nd-ranked singles player, defeated Shviadok 6-4, 6-2 and Adam bounced Torres 6-2, 6-3 in individual play to secure the victory with three matches unfinished.
