AZUSA, Calif. – No. 4 Hawai'i Pacific University opened the 2017 Acrobatics and Tumbling season on Monday night by edging No. 5 Azusa Pacific 275.475-to-275.105 on the road at the Felix Event Center.
 
The Sharks (1-0) begin their fourth season of competition in the fledgling sport. The Cougars (0-1) suffered their fourth smallest loss in their seventh season as a founding member of the sport.
 
HPU and APU will meet again, in Honolulu, on Feb. 24 at McKinley High School.
 
The Sharks had narrow wins in the Acro and Pyramid events, but with losses in the Compulsory, Toss and Tumbling event HPU trailed by 1.60 points heading into the last event.
 
The Sharks outdueled the Cougars in the choreographed team event, scoring 97.70 points as APU scored 95.73, to win the season opener.
 
HPU will be in action again on Wednesday night when they visit No. 2 Oregon at Matthew Knight Arena starting at 4 p.m. HST (6 p.m. PST). The meet will be video streamed by the Pac 12 Network Plus on Twitter at https://twitter.com/i/live/830188064685252610.