SURPRISE, Ariz. – The No. 11 Hawai'i Pacific University women fought to the bitter end before surrendering the PacWest Conference Championship to No. 6 Azusa Pacific 4-3 on Saturday at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex.
 
The Sharks (7-3) won the top two singles positions and the sixth, but the Cougars (15-2) got the win in a three-set battle at No. 3 singles.
 
The Cougars claimed the doubles point fairly quickly in the three hour championship match, with Carolyn Brooner and Jacky Wagner blanking the Sharks Elodie Busson and Valentina Mokrova 6-0 at No. 2, with APU's Courtney Page and Madison Kane taking No. 3 against Nicole Ballach and Marta Ruszczynska 6-2. The only unfinished position in the match was at No. 1 doubles, with HPU's Marleen Tilgner and Mihok Miyahara trailing 10th ranked Petra Ivankovic and Anna Savchenko 3-2 when the doubles point was won.
 
The Sharks rallied in singles play, taking the top two spots, including an upset triumph at No. 1.
 
The Cougars got the first singles win at No. 5 as Kane dispatched Ruszczynska 6-1, 6-0, with HPU coming back at No. 2 with 20th ranked Busson beating Savchenko 6-2, 7-5 to give HPU its first point.
 
APU got up 3-1 with Brooner defeating Mokrova 6-4, 6-3, then it was Shark time.
 
Ballach took No. 6 beating Katia Betancourt 6-3, 6-2 to pull HPU within one at 3-2.
 
HPU's 16th ranked Tilgner came through at No. 1, beating sixth ranked Ivankovic in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 to tie the match at 3-3.
 
The epic battle came at No. 3, where HPU Miyahara fell to Wagner in the first set 6-2. Miyahara led through the second set, but saw Wagner make a run. Miyahara answered back to take the second set 7-5 to give the Sharks a chance for the win.
 
But in the final set, Wagner came on strong to close with the 6-1 win.
 
The loss ended the two-time defending champion Sharks chance for a three-peat, but it's expected the two teams could see each other once again. The Cougars won the PacWest's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, and now the Sharks will wait until Tuesday, May 4 when the tournament selections are announced.