SURPRISE, Ariz. – Defending NCAA National Champion and sixth ranked Hawai'i Pacific University collected its fifth straight PacWest Conference Championship as the Sharks outgunned No. 11 Azusa Pacific 5-1 on Saturday at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex.
 
The Sharks (16-4) won their 10th straight match as they downed the Cougars (18-5) for the second time this season.
 
The Sharks once again used their depth to win at the lower positions in the lineup, while grabbing an upset at No. 1 doubles.
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HPU's ninth ranked doubles duo of Filip Dolezel/Jakub Hadrava beat second ranked Oliver Frank/Pascal Engel 8-4 to set the tone of the match.
 
The Sharks also won at No. 3 doubles as Juan Erro/Filip Soban beat Antonio Pejic/Cameron Backman 8-5. The win was the first of two points for the Sharks pair.
 
Erro claimed HPU's first singles point when Pejic retired at No. 6 with Erro up 4-1. Then Soban gave HPU a 4-1 lead with a 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 5 over Roberto Luconi.
 
Hadrava finished the match with a thrilling win at No. 3 singles. Hadrava took the first set from Pascal Engel 6-2, but had to battle from a deficit in the second set to win 7-6 by taking the tiebreaker 7-3.
 
It was the second time this season the Sharks have beaten the Cougars with a tiebreaker in the deciding set.
 
The other three singles matches were pulled with the win, as all three appeared to be headed to split sets when the match ended.
 
The only point for the Cougars came at No. 2 doubles, where Christian Schmid/Shepherd Newcomb beat Torben Otto/Jack Lyttle 8-6.
 
The Sharks, who entered the PacWest Championships as the number one team in the West Region, now wait their official entry into the NCAA Division II Championship when the bracket is announced on Tuesday, April 25 at 2:30 p.m. HST (8:30 p.m. EDT).