IRVINE, Calif. – Hawai`i Pacific and Azusa Pacific split the first-place votes on the PacWest men’s and women’s tennis preseason polls with Hawai`i Pacific being named the preseason favorite on the women’s side, while Azusa Pacific is the men’s preseason favorite as voted on by the league’s coaches.
 
MEN
 

2020 PACWEST PRESEASON POLL
	TEAM	POINTS	2019 RECORD
1.	Azusa Pacific (5)	61	23-4
2.	Hawai`i Pacific (3)	59	18-5
3.	Hawai`i Hilo	48	15-5
4.	Sonoma State	39	11-6
5.	Concordia	31	12-10
6.	Point Loma	21	9-10
7.	Biola	18	10-14
8.	Holy Names	11	4-12
First-place votes in parenthesis

Azusa Pacific was picked by the PacWest coaches as the preseason favorites with five of the eight first-places votes after the Cougars took third place in the PacWest tournament last year and advanced to the NCAA West Regional.
 
The Cougars had a strong fall season led by Sam Sippel’s trip to the ITA Fall National Championships. The freshman defeated his teammate and reigning PacWest Player of the Year Jakob Schnaitter in the regional final, 2-6, 6-1, 10-4 to win the tournament.
 
Schnaitter is coming off one of the best individual seasons in PacWest history as he went 18-1 at No. 1 singles along with a 15-8 record in doubles. He went undefeated against West Region opponents, and is the only returning player from the 2019 All-PacWest first team. He will have his doubles partner back in Jesse Haas, who won the doubles title at the ITA Fall regional with Leyton Bohren. The Cougars also return their No. 2 singles player Ryan Nuno, who had an 18-2 record last year.
 
Hawai`i Pacific, the defending PacWest champion and six-time conference champion, earned three first place votes and is right behind Azusa Pacific by only two points in the preseason poll. The Sharks got an early start to their season with some of the best NCAA Division III programs making an early season trip to the Hawaiian Islands.
 
The Sharks have a deep lineup with Lucas Poock playing the No. 6 singles position again this year after going 7-0 at that spot last year. Benjamin Loccisano, who played mostly in the No. 3 slot was the Sharks’ No. 1 for the season-opener. He had a 15-6 singles record last year and was a third-team All-PacWest honoree. Ondrej Ctverak played No. 2 singles for HPU last year and had a 5-10 record to go along with a 15-3 record at No. 3 doubles alongside Loccisano.
 
Hawai`i Hilo finished runner-up in the PacWest Championships in each of the last two seasons and is picked third in the preseason poll. The Vulcans lost their top-2 singles players, who were among the best in NCAA Division II last year. PacWest Freshman of the Year Martin Soukal is the Vulcans’ top returning singles player after he went 14-2 in singles last year.
 
Chen En Wu and Arturo Dell’Eva will be the veterans in Hawai`i Hilo’s young lineup, which got some valuable experience last year by reaching the NCAA National Championships for the second year in a row. The Vulcans also added Santiago DiLoreto as a transfer from Division I South Alabama.
 
Sonoma State won the consolation bracket at the PacWest Championships last year and is picked fourth this year with an experienced lineup for the 2020 season. Santiago Sarudiansky reached the round of 16 at the Fall ITA West Regional along with Max Nudell, who took out the No. 7 seed at the tournament. The Seawolves advanced to the NCAA West Regional last year in Honolulu and has four returning starters from that team.
 
Concordia narrowly missed out on a playoff spot last year after putting together an impressive season that included a fourth-place finish at the PacWest Championships. The Eagles have several new additions to the roster, and even has their No. 1 singles player Yassine Smiej back after earning second-team All-PacWest last year. Smiej, one of the fastest baseline players in the conference, reached the quarterfinals of the ITA West Regional without dropping a set, and is poised to have a great 2020 season.
 
Point Loma, Biola and Holy Names round out the preseason poll. The Sea Lions return three starters from last year, including Yuki Okamoto, who earned All-PacWest in doubles last year. Biola returned all of its starters from last year, and added two new players to the roster. Holy Names will have a new look this season with a lot of new faces on the roster as the Hawks try to build on their four wins from last year.
 
The first match between PacWest teams will be on February 2 when Sonoma State visits Holy Names. The following weekend, Azusa Pacific will host UC San Diego and Point Loma in matches that will have important implications for the NCAA West Regional. On February 16, Hawai`i Pacific will host UC San Diego and Hawai`i Hilo. The Vulcans will make another trip to Texas this year near the end of the February, while Hawai`i Pacific and Azusa Pacific go to the East Coast in March. The PacWest Championships will be held a week later than normal this year, beginning on April 23 at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Club for the seventh year in a row.
 
WOMEN

 

2020 PACWEST PRESEASON POLL
	TEAM	POINTS	2019 RECORD
1.	Hawai`i Pacific (12)	194	23-4
2.	Azusa Pacific (2)	178	18-5
3.	Academy of Art	154	15-5
4.	Sonoma State	141	11-6
5.	Fresno Pacific	140	12-10
6.	Concordia	124	9-10
7.	Point Loma	122	10-14
8.	Cal State LA	114	4-12
9.	Stanislaus State	77
10.	Biola	67
11.	Hawai`i Hilo	57
12.	Holy Names	43
13.	Dominican	40
14.	Chaminade	19
First-place votes in parenthesis

 Two-time defending champion Hawai`i Pacific is picked by the PacWest coaches as the favorite to win the PacWest title this year with the Sharks earning three first-place votes. Reigning PacWest Player of the Year Elodie Busson is back after going 9-3 in the regular season. She also helped the Sharks reach the quarterfinals of the national championships last year.
 
In the season-opener Marleen Tilgner played No. 2 singles for Hawai`i Pacific, making her debut for the Sharks after playing at perennial power Columbus State. Mihoki Miyahara was the PacWest Championships Most Outstanding Player last year and is slotted to play No. 3 singles for HPU this year as one of four returning starters for the defending champions.
 
Azusa Pacific got two first-place votes after coming within two games of reaching their first PacWest championship match in program history. In one of the most exciting matches of the season, the Cougars nearly upset the Sharks in the semifinals of the tournament. The Cougars went on to win two NCAA postseason matches to advance to the national quarterfinals for the first time in program history.
 
The Cougars have a nearly identical lineup this year led by Petra Ivankovic and Anna Savchenko, who were the finalists at the ITA Fall West Regional. Savchenko won the title after winning an epic three-setter against top-seeded Ghazal Pakbaten in the quarterfinals. April Wong also reached the quarterfinals of the tournament for Azusa Pacific, while Jackie Wagner only dropped one set en route to the semifinals.
 
After so many years with the same players at the top of the lineup, Academy of Art will have a new look in 2020 led by Mariacristina Andrisani and Sofia Ragona along with a big recruiting class for third-year head coach Clarisse Baca. Andrisani was a quarterfinalist at the ITA Fall West Regional, while Ragona reached the round of 16. The Urban Knights advanced to the PacWest championship match for the second year in a row and had a 15-3 record going into that match.
 
The PacWest coaches picked Sonoma State to take fourth place as Rafael Martinez begins his first year as the head coach of the program. He has three returning starters from last season Carolyn Brooner, who will help fill the gap left by four-time All-PacWest honoree Jensyn Warren. Sonoma State went 11-6 last year and narrowly missed an NCAA postseason bid. The Seawolves added an NCAA Divison I transfer in Tiani Jadulang from Cal State Fullerton.
 
Fresno Pacific will begin its second season of PacWest women’s tennis as the preseason No. 5 team. PacWest Freshman of the Year Alice di Matteo is back on the Sunbirds’ roster along with Ioanna Lathouri, who has one of the league’s best one-handed backhands and Sanne Brull.
 
Concordia is picked sixth and will be led by the tall left-handed Pakbaten, who is one of three first-team All-PacWest singles players back for the 2020 season. She had a 13-5 record in the regular season last year and went into the PacWest Championships with a five-match winning streak. In the fall, she reached the quarterfinals of the ITA Fall West Regional after earning the No. 1 seed.

Just two years removed from their run to the PacWest semifinals, where they nearly took out the eventual champion Hawai`i Pacific, the Point Loma Sea Lions are picked seventh in the preseason poll with Gabi Armas as the team’s top returner from last season. In the fall, she reached the second round of the ITA West Regional. Freshman Angelique Friedrich had the best run of any Sea Lion at the tournament, reaching the round of 16.
 
Cal State LA is in the eighth spot with new head coach Richard Gallien, who was the team’s assistant coach. He will lead a lineup that features five returning starters and Noa Davico, who is a transfer from Columbus State.
 
Stanislaus State is picked ninth followed by Biola, which added Colbeyshae Emery, who had an impressive fall season. Hawai`i Hilo is picked 11th in the preseason poll ahead of Holy Names, Dominican and Chaminade.
 
The season will start for most teams on the first weekend of February. Just a couple weeks into the season, Sonoma State will visit Academy of Art on February 15. Then on March 16, Academy of Art will travel to Azusa Pacific for a Monday afternoon contest. Hawai`i Pacific will make its annual trip to Southern California at the end of March to play against Azusa Pacific, Cal State LA, Point Loma, Academy of Art and Sonoma State in a span of just six days. The PacWest Championships will be held a week later than normal this year, beginning on April 22 at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Club for the seventh year in a row.