HONOLULU – A rugged schedule of 10 matches in 14 days caught up to No. 16 Hawai'i Pacific University on Tuesday, as Division I Oral Roberts came from behind to trip up HPU 4-3 in a non-conference match at the University of Hawai'i Tennis Center on Tuesday.
 
The 16th ranked Sharks (10-2) held a 3-0 lead, but the Golden Eagles (3-7) took the last three points to win the match and snap the Sharks four-game winning streak.
 
HPU grabbed the doubles point at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Lukas Bauer and Cheng-Chieh Wag defeated Kenneth Boykin and Eddy Leardini 6-3 at No. 2. Then Ondrej Ctverak and Benjamin Loccisano downed Marcello Moreira and Andre Russo 6-3. The No. 1 spot was unfinished with Valentin Masse and Maxime Gayte trailing Nikola Boskov and Barnabas Koncz 5-4 when the point was won.
 
Then came singles. The Sharks played without two of their top performers due to nagging injuries, with Masse and Gayte pulling out and causing the Sharks to move player up the lineup.
 
Loccisano won at No. 3 over Russo 6-3, 6-3 and Ctverak followed moments later with a win at No. 1 over Koncz 6-1, 6-4 to put HPU 3-0. The Golden Eagles followed shortly with Leardini winning at No. 6 over Guilherme DeMedeiros 6-3, 6-4, and Boskov beating HPU's Lucas Poock 7-6, 6-4.
 
The Sharks followed with heartbreaking losses at No. 2 and No. 4.
 
At No. 2, Wang won the first set 7-6 in a tiebreak and held a 5-2 lead before Boykin rallied to win the second set 7-5. Boykin outdueled the Sharks Wang in the third set to win 6-4 and even the match.
 
At No. 4, Bauer took the first set over Moreira 6-3, but lost the second 6-1. Bauer led the final set having opportunities to win at three occasions, but Moreira came back. After tying the set at 6-6 and trailing late, Moreira put together a string of four straight winning points to pass Bauer for the 8-6 tiebreak win and take set 7-6.
 
After the rugged stretch that was half of the regular season for the HPU men, the Sharks have a chance to recover before playing their next match on Saturday, April 6 when they host nationally ranked Hawai'i Hilo at Ala Moana Park. The Senior Day match is set for noon.