SURPRISE, Ariz. – The 12th ranked Hawai'i Pacific University men season came to an end on Saturday afternoon as No. 6 Hawai'i Hilo chalked up a come-from-behind 4-3 win in the title match of the 2021 NCAA Division II Men's West Regional at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex.
 
For the fourth time in five meetings this season between the third-seeded Sharks (6-5) and the top-seeded Vulcans (10-2), the winner of the doubles point was the eventual match victor. And it was on this day, though the Sharks gave it a go.
 
Despite dropping the doubles point, HPU grabbed straight set wins at on three courts, while dropping a straight set win at the top.
 
The match came down to battles between the Vulcans Alessio DeMichelis and HPU's 36th ranked Felix Einig at No. 2 and Luca Checcia against the Sharks Marcel Hornung at No. 4 with the Sharks up 3-2.
 
In the third set, DeMichelis won a 7-6 tiebreaker 7-2 to edge Einig, and moments later. Checchia was the last standing at 7-5 third set win against Hornung to crush HPU's hopes with the 4-3 Vulcan triumph.
 
HPU went behind early, taking No. 2 doubles as Einig and Cheng-Chieh Wang dispatched Checchia and Joshua Liu 6-1. The Vulcans answered with a win at No. 1 with Martin Soukal and Santiago DiLoreto beating Benjamin Loccisano and Marcel Hornung 6-4. The No. 3 proved the difference, with DeMichelis and Chun En Wu beating HPU's Ryohei Arai and Kilian Maitre 6-4 for the ominious 1-0 lead for the Vulcans.
 
The Sharks made a quick comeback in singles with Wang at No. 6 defeating UHH's Luca Matheowetz 6-2, 6-2, and Maitre taking down En Wu at No. 3, 7-5, 6-4. UHH evened the team score at 2-2 when 22nd ranked Soukal won in straight sets at No. 1 over Loccisano 6-4, 6-2.
 
HPU retook the lead at 3-2 with a victory at No. 5 as Arai won a tiebreaker in the second set to beat DiLoreto 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).
 
That left No. 2 and No. 4.
 
DeMichelis claimed the first set 6-4, but the 36th ranked Einig came back with a 6-3 win in the second. The pair traded leads until the end, when DeMichelis won the tiebreaker 7-6 (7-2).
 
At No. 4, it was HPU's Hornung who jumped out to the 6-3 first set lead. Checcia answered by winning the second 6-3. Then came the final set. Both players held advantages and eventually tying at 5-5. But Checcia got a service break and took advantage to close out the match with a 7-5 win and give the Vulcans the team victory.
 
UHH took four of the five meetings this season against HPU, with two of them 4-3 wins. The Vulcans advance to the NCAA Division II National Championships in Surprise May 18-20.