AZUSA, Calif. – No. 5 Hawai'i Pacific University opened the 2018 Acrobatics and Tumbling season on Tuesday night falling to third ranked Azusa Pacific 270.670 – 282.075 at the Felix Event Center.
 
The Sharks (0-1) begin their fifth season of competition in the newly announced emerging sport. The Cougars (1-0), coming off their upset to HPU in the 2017 NCATA Quarterfinals, defeated the Sharks in all but two events, exhibiting the power of eight years in competition.
 
HPU and APU will meet again, in Honolulu, on Mar. 2 at Moanalua High School.
 
The Sharks competed strong in the first half of the meet scoring 95.40 with the Cougars tallying 96.95. In the third heat of the Pyramid event, junior Hannah Riker of Rapid City, S.D., junior Haley Turner of Chattanooga, Tenn., senior All-American Daisha Paulino of Kapolei, Hawai'i), senior Joely Smith of Wilmington, N.C., senior Ashley Thomas of Springfield, Ore., and sophomore Makayla Garland, the 2017 NCATA Newcomer of the Year of Lathrop, Calif., scored a 9.90 out of 10 recording the highest score of any event in the meet.
 
The Sharks couldn't quite keep it together in the second half of the meet losing the toss event by a 1.25 differential from their total top score, the tumbling event with a 2.15 point differential, and the largest hit to the Sharks score, the team event.
 
From a starting value of 105.27, the Sharks were hit with 20.55 total points deduction lending them a 92.520 while the Cougars collected a 99.50. Garland led the Sharks to victory in the Tumbling Aerial Pass with a 9.750 out of 10.00, but it wasn't enough to keep the Sharks below water.
 
HPU will be in action again on Friday night when they visit No. 2 Oregon at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, starting at 3 p.m. HST (5 p.m. PST).