SURPRISE, Ariz. – The 13th ranked Hawai'i Pacific University men had to outlast 14th ranked Concordia Irvine to win 4-3 in the third place match of the 2021 PacWest Conference Championships Saturday afternoon at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex.
 
The Sharks (5-4) won the doubles point and the first two singles positions against the Eagles (9-8), then had to withstand a CUI comeback.
 
HPU jumped out on top in doubles, with the top two duos getting the point. The No. 2 pair of Felix Eining and Cheng-Chieh Wang ripped Jan Simon and Patrick Wong 6-0, while the No. 1 team of Benjamin Loccisano and Marcel Hornung downed 18th ranked Yassinee Smiej and Mike Jansen 6-3. The Sharks were up in the No. 3 position with Kilian Maitre and Ryohei Arai leading 4-3 against Benjamin Buck and Gertjan De Wilder 4-3 when the point was won.
 
The Sharks appeared to make it a sweep with the bottom of the lineup coming in quickly. Arai beat Jansen 6-4, 6-0 at No. 5, with Wang handling Sofian Taybei Alaoui 6-3, 6-3 at No. 6 to give HPU a 3-0 lead.
 
That's when the Eagles said enough. Buck won at No. 4, beating Hornung 6-3, 6-3, then Simon claimed No. 3 with a 6-4, 6-4 over HPU's Maitre. CUI tied the match at 3-3 when 25th ranked Smiej defeated Loccisano 6-3, 6-3.
 
The match came down to the No. 2 slot. HPU's Einig won the first set over Wong 6-2 as the Sharks thought about the sweep. But Wong answered by taking the second set 6-3 for the split just as his teammates tied the match at 3-3. In the final set, Einig took the early lead and held on to it for a 6-3 set win and the point to put HPU on top 4-3.
 
The Sharks now wait until Tuesday, May 4, when the NCAA announces the participants in the 2021 NCAA Division II Tournament and the West Regional that will be at Surprise May 7-8.