ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – The No. 8 Hawai'i Pacific University women battled hard before dropping a 4-2 decision to No. 3 Saint Leo (Fla.) on Saturday afternoon at Sanlando Park.
 
The eighth ranked Sharks (12-7) won the hard fought doubles point from the third rated Lions (18-2) but SLU collected four singles triumphs.
 
The Sharks started things off on the right foot with strong wins in doubles as 30th ranked Shaline Pipa and Marleen Tilgner dropped 37th ranked Alina Fedulova and Nina Furmaniak 6-2 at No. 1, while Elodie Busson and Mihoki Miyahara downed Lavinia Lancellotti and Marta Vicens Miquel 6-3 at No. 2 for the point. No. 3 had SLU's Celina Ermann and Maria Valverde Soler up 4-3 on Valentia Mokrova and Marta Ruszczynska when the point was won.
 
The Lions tied the match by winning at No. 6 singles with Kamilya Shailina beating Ruszczynska 6-0, 6-2. But HPU's 13th ranked Pipa came through at No. 1 singles to beat 22nd ranked Vicens Miquel 7-6, 6-1 to put the Sharks back up 2-1.
 
That's when the Sharks started slipping. At No. 4, Lancellotti beat Miyahara 6-3, 6-4 to tie the contest at 2-all. At No. 2, 26th ranked Furmaniak needed three sets to beat Busson 6-4, 0-6, 6-1 to take a 3-2 advantage. Then Fedulova won at No. 5, beating Mokrova in three, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 for the 4-2 win. HPU was on the verge of another point when the match was halted, as Tilgner was up 6-4, 5-2 on Ermann when play was called.
 
HPU closes out regular season action on Sunday at Sanlando Park, meeting No. 27 West Florida in a 6 a.m. HST (Noon EDT) match before heading to Surprise, Arizona for the 2022 PacWest Conference Championships next week at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex.