AZUSA, Calif. — No. 7 Hawai'i Pacific University made a strong comeback, but fell at No. 4 Azusa Pacific by 1.005, 272.045-271.040 on Tuesday evening at the Felix Event Center.
 
The Sharks (0-4) won final event of the meet, the team event, for the first time this season, but could not catch up to the Cougars (4-1).
 
HPU split the Compulsory Event with APU winning two of the heats and started with a 0.05 point lead. In the Acro heat, seniors Kiana Roosevelt of Phoenix, Ariz./Xavier College Prep, Ashley Thomas of Springfield, Ore./Thurston, and Joely Smith of Wilmington, N.C./Ashley, juniors Mikayla Garland of Lathrop, Calif./Lathrop, Savannah Day of Cameron Park, Calif./Union Mine, and Hannah Riker of Rapid City, S.D./Stevens, sophomores Peyton Frazier of Payson, Utah/Payson and Ashley Eldredge of Lubbock, Texas/Lubbock-Cooper and freshman Saylor Schmidt of Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta Mesa all topped APU's 9.20 with a 9.30 out of 10.

In the Acro Event, Roosevelt, Thomas, and Riker put up a 9.75 in the 7-element heat beating the Cougar's 9.65. For the Pyramid Event, HPU posted a 9.80 in the Inversion heat, but just fell short of the total event score of 28.70 compared to APU's 28.80.
 
At halftime, the Sharks were down by just 0.65 points
 
To start the second half, APU took all of the heats for both the Toss Event and Tumbling Event. HPU was hampered by lower starting difficulty values in every heat less the Aerial pass of the Tumbling Event in which Garland put up 9.80 out of 10.0 points compared to the Cougar's 9.825.
 
In the Team Event, HPU had a lower start value, but posted one of their highest marks to win the event for the first time this season. The Sharks scored 94.690 out of 104.490 compared to APU's 92.520 out of 107.520, a 15.00 point deduction.
 
In comparing all the events, the Sharks received 18.70 points in deductions throughout the meet compared to the Cougar's 24.18.


HPU wraps up the regular season on Saturday in Phoenix, Ariz., with the Sharks facing host Arizona Christian and No. 1 Baylor in a tri-meet at Fultz Memorial Gymnasium.