WACO, Texas — No. 4 Hawai'i Pacific University had its season come to an end in the National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association Championship semifinals with a 273.165-260.400 loss to No. 1 Azusa Pacific on Thursday afternoon at Baylor's Farrell Center.
 
The Sharks (2-2) battled through the meet, but could not top the top-seeded Cougars (4-0) as HPU continued its streak of appearing in the NCATA Championships each season since adopting the sport.
 
HPU started off behind and could not catch up.
 
In the Compulsories, HPU scored as high as 9.700 in the toss heat, only to see Azusa answer with a 9.950. Behind the 8-ball early, the Sharks trailed the Cougars 38.000-to-26.625.
 
HPU stepped in the Acro event, again posting strong scores of above 9.525, but not quite enough to get the Cougars who edged the Sharks in the event 29.500-28.825.
 
The Pyramid, HPU busted off another 9.700 in the inversion, but were off slightly in the synchronized and open to fall to APU 29.575-28.525. The Cougars led at halftime 97.075-to-93.975.
 
A slip in the Toss event knocked down the Sharks again and Azusa came on strong, winning the event 28.725-to-26.825.
 
HPU won two heats in the Tumbling event, edging Azusa 9.125-9.100 in the trio pass, and taking advantage of a fall to win the open 9.300-to-8.325. Still, the event was claimed by the Cougars 55.275-54.700.
 
The final event of the competition, the Team event saw the Sharks trying to finish strong. Their aggressiveness caught up with them, with slips and balance checks to drop 18.15 points from the start value and score an 84.900. APU also suffered over 15.3 points in deductions, but with a higher start value scored a 92.090 to sweep every event and post the 273.165-to-260.400 win.
 
HPU's outstanding season came to a close with the loss as the Sharks recorded their third appearance in the NCATA National Semifinals in school history.