SURPRISE, Ariz. – The 12th ranked Hawai'i Pacific University men stunned eighth ranked Azusa Pacific 4-2 on Friday afternoon in the semifinals of the 2021 NCAA Division II Men's West Regional at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex.
 
The Sharks (6-4) used the lower part of the lineup to down the No. 8 Cougars (17-5) and advance to the regional championship match to face their in-state rival, top-seeded and No. 6 Hawai'i Hilo on Saturday.
 
The Sharks dropped the No. 1 doubles position as APU's fourth ranked Jakob Schnaitter and Leyton Bohren defeated HPU's Benjamin Loccisano and Marcel Hornung 6-1. But the rest of the squad came through for HPU. Felix Einig and Cheng-Chieh Wang took No. 2 over Sam Sippel and Ryan Nuno 6-2, then Ryohei Arai and Kilian Maitre beat Ethan Smith and Dylan Parsley 6-4 at No. 3 to take the point.
 
The Cougars rallied at the top of the singles lineup to claim a 2-1 as seventh ranked Schnaitter beat Loccisano 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1, and 12th ranked Sippel defeated HPU's 36th ranked Einig 6-2, 6-4.
 
But at No. 5 singles, the Sharks Arai ripped Cole Rassner 6-2, 6-3 to make it 2-2. Shortly thereafter, Cheng-Chieh Wang secured the No. 6 spot with a 7-5, 6-4 victory against Caden Samkutty.
 
The drama was at the No. 3 spot. Maitre won the first set against Nuno 6-4, but lost in the second 6-3. In the final set, Maitre jumped out to a 3-0 advantage and played it out to win 6-2 and give the Sharks the match win.
 
In the only unfinished position, APU's Bohren was leading Hornung 7-5, 4-2 when the match was ended.
 
The win sets up the fifth meeting this season between HPU and UH Hilo. The Vulcans have a 3-1 lead this year, but all of the matches have played close. First serve on Saturday is at 11 a.m. HST (2 p.m. MST) at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex with the winner getting a berth to return to Surprise for the NCAA Division II National Championships May 19-21.