Box Score SURPRISE, Ariz. – No. 2 Hawai'i Pacific University saw its lead melt away in the triple-digit heat of the Arizona sun as No. 4 West Florida came from a 4-1 deficit to upset HPU 5-4 in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Championships at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex.
 
The No. 2 Sharks (21-3) had their 10-match winning streak come to an end, falling in the semifinals for the third straight season and the fifth time in the last six years. The No. 4 Argos (31-3) avenged an earlier loss to the Sharks and advance to Friday's national championship match against No. 1 Barry (Fla.).
 
Led by the top of the lineup, the Sharks claimed the top two doubles flights and the top two singles flights to gain a 4-1 advantage.
 
HPU's 10th ranked doubles pair of senior Lena Lutzeier of Blaustein, Germany and senior Oceane Adam of Le Moule, Guadeloupe, had to overcome a 4-0 deficit at No. 1 doubles and roared back to beat Ines Nicault and Lais Bicca 8-4.
 
The Sharks No. 2 pair of seniors Lara Meccico of Carolei, Italy, and Barbora Kijasova of Ostrava, Czech Republic, were in command for their win over Paula Coyos and Diana Vlad 8-4. The Argos claimed the No. 3 doubles point as Jordana Lujan and Samantha Echevarria defeated HPU's Debora Echeverria and Leticia Gonzalez dos Santos 8-2 as HPU held the 2-1 lead.
 
The Sharks rolled out to the 4-1 advantage as No. 1 ranked Lutzeier made quick work of beating 26th ranked Coyos 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1 singles, just before third ranked Meccico ripped No. 65 Nicault 6-3, 6-1 at No. 2 singles.
 
But those would be the last wins for the Sharks, despite having leads in first set leads on two of the remaining four courts.
 
The Argos started the comeback with a win at No. 5 singles as Vlad downed Gonzalez dos Santos 6-1, 6-3 before the last three singles flights went to three sets.
 
HPU's Echeverria battled back from a 6-2 first set loss to UWF's Echevarria with a 6-1 second set win. But it was the Argo who quickly took the third 6-2 to pull UWF to a 4-3 deficit.
 
The Sharks then lost two heartbreaking matches. No. 21 Adam looked to be in control at No. 3 singles, beating 54th ranked Lujan 6-4 in the first set and holding a 3-0 lead in the second. But Lujan fought back to tie the set at 6-all, then broke Adam's serve to win the tiebreaker 7-5.
 
In the third set Adam again took a lead before Lujan made a comeback to take a 6-5 advantage. Adam won the next game to force a tiebreaker at 6-6 to determine the match. However, Lujan gained the advantage in the match ender and downed Adam 7-2 for the win.
 
UWF had tied the overall match at 4-4.
 
It was up to the No. 6 singles flight to determine who would advance to the national championship match.
 
Overlooked for most of the day, HPU's Kijasova and UWF's Heather Mixon were locked into a marathon match.
 
Kijasova battled Mixon through the first set and won 7-6 by taking the tiebreaker 9-7. The pair fought through the second set before Mixon came through with a 7-6 win by taking the tiebreaker 7-3.
 
The final set of the flight match that lasted nearly four hours saw Kijasova and Mixon struggle for every point before the Argo picked up the final two games to claim the victory 6-4.