SURPRISE, Ariz. – No. 2 Hawai'i Pacific University relied on the No. 1 singles player in the country, Lena Lutzeier, to come through in the clutch and lead the Sharks to a 5-4 victory over No. 23 Point Loma in the semifinals of the 2018 PacWest Conference Championships at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Center.
 
The No. 2 Sharks (17-2), the tournament's top seed, trailed the No. 23 Sea Lions (18-5) 4-1 before winning the final four singles flights to pull off the win.
 
The match came down to No. 1 singles, where top-ranked Lutzeier, the senior from Blaustein, Germany, held off 46th ranked Nikki Newell 7-6, 7-6, winning both sets by 7-5 tiebreaker.
 
With the teams even at 4-4, Lutzeier and Newell battled through the second set with Lutzeier holding a 6-5 advantage. But Newell came back to take the next game and tie the set at 6-all.
 
In the second tiebreaker between the pair, Lutzeier got the upper hand and served leading 6-5. She controlled the long rally at match point and won it with a cross-court backhand past the skidding Newell that placed the Sharks in the championship match.
 
While Lutzeier's heroics capped the win, HPU got the comeback started with a win at No. 5 singles as Leticia Gonzalez dos Santos ripped through Ellie Gamble for a 6-0, 6-3 win that pulled the Sharks to within two at 4-2.
 
Then ninth ranked Lara Meccico came back from a first set 6-0 deficit to 12th ranked Carolina Cueva Bucio at No. 2 singles to win 7-5 in the second set and 6-0 in the third to make it 4-3.
 
Debora Echeverria gutted out the tying win at No. 4 singles in three sets, winning the first 6-3 against Gabi Armas. Armas took the second 6-0, before Echeverria rallyed back for the 6-1 win in the third.
 
PLNU opened singles action with wins as Shelby Groeneveld upset HPU's 22nd ranked Oceane Adam 6-4, 6-3 at No.3, while Michelle Torres downed Barbora Kijasova 6-4, 6-1 at No. 6.
 
The Sharks put themselves behind the eight-ball early by losing two of the three doubles points. Meccico/Kijasova won the first point for HPU with an 8-2 win at No. 2 doubles over Bucio/Armas. Point Loma got the upset at No. 1 as the Sharks ninth ranked doubles pair of Lutzeier/Adam fell to Groeneveld/Torres 8-5, as Newell/Gamble edged Echeverria/dos Santos 8-5 to give the Sea Lions the 2-1 lead.
 
The top-seeded and No. 2 Sharks advance to the PacWest Championship match on Saturday to face second-seeded and No. 11 Academy of Art. ARTU defeated third-seeded and No. 13 Azusa Pacific 5-2 in the other semifinal. The title match starts at 6 a.m. HST (9 a.m. MST) at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Center.