LA MIRADA, Calif. – The 10th ranked Hawai'i Pacific University men got off on the right foot to start a California road trip, beating Biola 5-2 on Thursday at the Biola Tennis Center.
The Sharks (2-2) lost two singles points in the match to the Eagles (9-8) in the match.
HPU collected the doubles point, winning all three positions.
Kilian Maitre and
Ryohei Arai started with a win at No. 3 against Isaac Cordova and Alex Sedeno 6-2, then the No. 1 pair of
Benjamin Loccisano and
Marcel Hornung beat Alexei Prokopchuk and Antonio Varona 6-4. The No. 2 duo of
Felix Einig and
Cheng-Chieh Wang needed a tiebreaker to beat Sebastian Herrera and Erik Martinez 7-6 (7-1).
The singles featured Einig winning at No. 2 against Herrera 6-4, 6-4 and Hornung downing Martinez at No. 6, 6-2, 7-5 for a 3-0 advantage.
The Eagles posted a point when BU's Sedeno won in three sets against Wang 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, but the Sharks clinched the match as Maitre won at No. 3 against Varona 6-1, 5-7, 6-3. Arai followed suit at No. 4 over Cordova 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
The No. 1 position was a three-set battle that Biola's Prokopchuk outlasted Loccisano in a third set tiebreaker, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-1).
The Sharks continue their California swing before next week's PacWest Conference Championships in Arizona by stopping in San Diego to face Point Loma on Friday. Match time is slated for 8 a.m. HST (11 a.m. PDT).
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