IRVINE, Calif. – There are two weeks left before teams travel to Surprise, Arizona, for the annual PacWest Tennis Championships, where all 12 women’s and eight men’s teams will compete for the conference title. Several important matches took place last week as teams continue to battle for position in the tournament.
 
Men
 
There was only one match played last week between PacWest teams, but it was an important one as Biola and Point Loma met for the second time this season. Point Loma won the first meeting and had just beaten MSU Denver, which had won against Biola. However, on their home courts, the Eagles played a nearly flawless match to win, 4-0.
 
Biola won the second and third doubles sets to claim the doubles point. An injury to Point Loma then gave Biola an early 2-0 lead. Alexei Prokopchuk made it a 3-0 advantage for the Eagles with a 6-1, 6-3 win. It was then a race between Antonio Varona and Isaac Cordova to clinch the match. Varona got across the finish line first with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Yuki Okamoto for Biola’s ninth win of the year.
 
Women
 
The four Southern California teams have not lost to any teams outside their region so far this year, but last week they had to face each other. Azusa Pacific had a rematch against Concordia and won that match 4-0. Petra Ivankovic won the first set in a tiebreaker against Ghazal Pakbaten and the second set was on serve when the match was stopped. Carolyn Brooner won her match 6-1, 6-4 to improve to 5-1 against PacWest opponents this year.
 
Then on Saturday, Biola got revenge against Point Loma with a 4-2 victory. Lilly McNeill has been no stranger to being put in critical situations for Biola this season and she came through once again for the Eagles. McNeill won her match 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to clinch the victory for Biola, which now has a league-best 12 wins.
 
Hawai`i Pacific hosted a rubber match against Hawai`i Hilo after the teams split a doubleheader early in the season. The Sharks won the match, 6-1, including two three-set victories. Hikari Osaki was locked in a wild three-set battle with defending PacWest Player of the Year Elodie Busson at No. 2 singles. Busson won the marathon match that ended in two tiebreakers, 6-4, 6-7(5), 1-0(18).
 
Marleen Tilgner has not had many opportunities to prove herself against PacWest competition since transferring to Hawai`i Pacific as the Peach Belt Player of the Year. However, in the few glimpses that the conference has had of its most notable recruit, she has been impressive. Tilgner won her match 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1 singles, and next week will get a chance to go through the gauntlet of projected opponents Colbeyshae Emery, Angelique Friedrich and Petra Ivankovic.
 
Fresno Pacific sent a strong message with a 7-0 victory on Saturday against Dominican. The Sunbirds have come closer than any other PacWest team to defeating Azusa Pacific so far this year, and they are starting to hit their stride ahead of the final two weeks of the season.
 
MSU Denver had a busy week with four matches and the Roadrunners went through it unscathed with four wins in a row. The closest match was against Nebraska-Omaha, and Marie Cool clinched the victory with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 6 singles. MSU Denver now has an 8-9 record this season and more experience in competitive situations than any other team in the conference this year.

Weekly awards for the week of March 29-April 4
 
MEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Alexei Prokopchuk, Biola
So. – Dnipro, Ukraine
Prokopchuk led Biola to a pair of wins last week to improve to 9-5 on the season. The sophomore started the week with a 6-1 win at No. 1 doubles with his partner Antonio Varona for their fourth win as a duo. He then defeated Westmont’s Ethan Ha at No. 1 singles, 6-3, 6-1. On Saturday, Prokopchuk defeated Point Loma’s Tyler Davis at No. 1 singles, 6-1, 6-3. His win helped give the Eagles a 4-0 victory to split the season series with Point Loma. The native of Ukraine has now won seven of his last eight completed singles matches in straight sets.
 
WOMEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jacky Wagner, Azusa Pacific
Jr. – Arnsberg, Germany
Wagner entered the week undefeated in singles against NCAA Division II opponents. In fact, she had only twice dropped more than two games in a set and never more than four. On Thursday, the junior faced her toughest test of the season at No. 3 singles against Rebekah Anderson, who had been playing No. 1 singles for Concordia for a portion of the season. The first set started as a tough battle with the score tied 5-5. However, Wagner won eight games in a row from that point to win the match, 7-5, 6-0 to improve to 8-0 against Division II foes. Wagner also won her match at No. 2 doubles, 6-2, alongside Carolyn Brooner as the pairing improved its record to 7-3.
 

PREVIOUS PACWEST PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
DATE	MEN	WOMEN
Feb. 16	Martin Soukal, UHH	Halle Romero, CMU
Feb. 23	Yassine Smiej, CUI	Amanda Letzring, PLNU
March 2	Isaac Cordova, BU	Mariia Borodii, FPU
March 9	Jakob Schnaitter, APU	Lilly McNeil, BU
March 16	Jandre van Wyk, CMU	Petra Ivankovic, APU
March 22	Yassine Smiej, CUI	Sofia Ragona, ART U
March 29	Ryan Nuno, APU	Colbeyshae Emery, BU
April 5	Alexei Prokopchuk, BU	Jacky Wagner, APU