ERIE, Pa. — No. 7 Hawai'i Pacific University kept their quarterfinal match against No. 2 Azusa Pacific close in the 2018 National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association (NCATA) National Championships, but APU rallied late for a 271.675-265.985 victory at Gannon University's Hammermill Center.
 
The Sharks (2-6) close team competition with the loss, while the Cougars (6-1) advance to meet No. 3 Quinnipiac in the semifinals on Friday.
 
The Sharks fell slightly in the Compulsory Event to start the meet by a score of 37.15 -37.725 while posting a high in the Pyramid heat of 9.725 but couldn't top the Cougars who posted a near perfect 9.975.
 
HPU came back for redemption in the Acro Event posting an event score of 29.175-27.750 over APU. The Sharks posted a whopping 9.85 over the Cougars 8.70 in the 5-element heat to give them the lead and further strengthened that lead dominating APU in both the 6-element (9.825-9.775) and 7-element (9.50-9.275) heats. Their performance in the Acro Event brought the meet score to 66.325-65.475 for a 0.85 point lead over the Cougars.
 
The Sharks were able to keep their lead throughout the Pyramid Event putting up huge scores in the first two heats. In the Inversion heat, senior Ashley Thomas, junior Haley Turner, junior Kianna Roosevelt, junior Amara Poquette, sophomore Makayla Garland, sophomore Hannah Riker and senior Joely Smith worked together to put up a 9.90 score as Cougars tallied 9.725. In the Synchronized heat, the unit of freshman Arianna Balogh, junior Ivee Kaye, freshman Jordan Sellars along with Turner, Riker, Poquette, Roosevelt Garland and Thomas put up the Shark's highest heat score on the day at 9.925 while APU grabbed a 9.875. Despite falling overall in the Pyramid event (29.175-29.325), going to half-time HPU was leading APU 95.50-94.80.
 
After the break, the Sharks topped the Cougars in the Synchronized heat of the Toss Event 9.025-9.00 but dropped the event to APU 28.05-27.525. Despite dropping the event, HPU was still on top 123.025-122.850.
 
The fifth event, Tumbling, turned the meet away from Sharks. They were topped in every heat by the Cougars despite sophomore Makayla Garland's 9.80 in the Aerial Pass. The Event score was 56.575-54.050 giving APU a 179.425-177.075 advantage heading into the Team Event.
 
HPU's Team Event had a starting difficulty value of 105.11 and they saw 16.20 in deductions to give them a team score of 88.910. APU started with 105.55 points possible and witnessed 13.30 in deductions to land them a total team score of 92.250. After all events, APU came out on top with a final score of 271.675 against HPU's 265.985.


The Sharks now wait for the final determination of competitors for the NCATA Individual Event Championships that is set for Saturday night at 1:30 p.m. HST (7:30 p.m. EDT) at the Hammermill Center.