SURPRiSE, ARIZ.—The top seeds all advanced on day one in the PacWest Conference women’s quarterfinals, but not without some drama.
Point Loma ralled back for a 4-3 win over Biola, and Fresno Pacific won a long battle with Menlo to highlight the day.
#1 AZUSA PACIFIC 4, #8 STANISLAUS STATE 0
The Cougars ran their winning streak to 15 matches with a 4-0 victory of Stanislaus State on Wednesday afternoon.
APU won the doubles point and then wrapped up the match in just a little over an hour with three victories on the singles courts.
Vini Bautista won on court two (6-1, 6-0),
Karola Suviste was victorious on court three (6-1, 6-1) and
Shannel Lopez took care of business on court four (6-1, 6-0).
The Cougars, now 21-2 on the season, will advance to the conference semifinals to take on the winner of Menlo and Fresno Pacific. The Warriors head to the consolation bracket at 7-10.
#3 Hawaii Pacific 4, #6 Dominican 1
The Sharks moved on to the semi’s with a hard fought 4-1 win over Dominican.
Hawaii Pacific won a couple of tight 6-4 matches to win the doubles point. In singles, No. 1
Evi Roobol won 6-4, 6-0, and
Kayleigh Castillo moved on in straight sets as well, 6-2, 6-2.
Sofia Acuna picked up a win on court two for Dominican (6-2, 6-1), but the Sharks clinched on five via
Rosa Viller Moller, 6-4, 7-5.
HPU will take on the winner of Point Loma-Biola on Thursday at 1 pm. The Sharks are now 15-4, while the Penguins will join the consolation bracket at 9-9.
#4 Fresno Pacific 4, #5 Menlo 2
The Sunbirds cruised in doubles play to claim the first team point, but then had a battle on their hands with Menlo.
FPU’s
Fabiana Gonzalez won on court two (6-0, 6-3) and her Sunbird teammate
Malia Mitchell won on court six, 6-2, 6-2. But the Oaks claimed a court four victory from
Gloria Jovic (6-2, 6-1) and another on court five from
Ombeline Robilliart, 6-4, 7-5.
That left a very interesting battle on court one, where the PacWest Player of the Year
Yume Ueoku dropped the first set to Menlo’s
Zofia Dziewiecka, 6-3. Ueoku fell behind in the second set as well (3-1), before storming back to win 11 of the next 12 games for a final of 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 to clinch the win.
Fresno Pacific will now take on No. 1 seed Azusa Pacific on Thursday at 1 pm. The Sunbirds improved to 12-5 with the win, while Menlo moves into the consolation bracket at 11-7. The Oaks will play Stanislaus State at 1 pm tomorrow.
#2 Point Loma 4, #7 Biola 3
Point Loma rallied back from a 3-2 deficit with a pair of third-set wins for a wild 4-3 victory over Biola in the PacWest quarterfinals.
The Sea Lions captured victory on court four where
Anna Pallencaoe stormed back from a 6-1 loss in the first set to take set two, 6-3. The third set, with everyone from both teams watching, went PLNU’s and Pallencaoe’s way at 7-6 (7-4), sending the Sea Lions into celebration.
Just prior to that,
Melissa Zirkle also rallied back for a dramatic win on court six to tie the match at 3-3. Zirkle faced two match points in the second set before coming back for a 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 win.
Point Loma won the doubles point and took team point #2 quickly on court one behind
Alina Kupfer, 6-0, 6-1. But Biola came back with victories from
Kailee Mazzeo (6-4, 6-4) and
Alessia Radu (6-3, 6-3), setting up the dramatic finish.
Point Loma (16-3) will now take on Hawaii Pacific in the semifinals, while Biola (10-8) will play Dominican in the consolation bracket.