SURPRiSE, ARIZ.—Defending PacWest champion
Point Loma will take on two-time title winner
Azusa Pacific on Friday for the 2026 conference trophy.
The Sea Lions won a marathon battle against Hawaii Pacific to advance, while Azusa Pacific outlasted Fresno Pacific. The Sharks and Sunbirds will also play on Friday in the third place match.
#1 Azusa Pacific 4, #4 Fresno Pacific 1
The Azusa Pacific Cougars will try and claim their third PacWest title in their final try after defeating Fresno Pacific in the semifinals on Thursday afternoon.
APU, in their final season at the Division II level, won a hard fought match against the game Sunbirds. All three doubles matches were tight to kick off the day, with APU ultimately holding on for a 6-4 victory on court one (
Stina Larsson and
Karola Suviste) and court two (
Vini Bautista and
Mariana Reveles Arreola), 7-6.
In singles, APU’s
Kimberly Tran won on court six 6-0, 6-0 and
Shannele Lopez triumphed 6-2, 6-0 on court four to make it 3-0. On the show court, the Cougars finally clinched after a great match between Larsson and
Yume Ueoku, 6-2, 6-4. It was just Ueoku’s second loss this spring, (17-2), and her other defeat was also to Larsson.
Jessica McLean picked up a point for the Sunbirds on court five, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), and the matches that went unfinished were uber tight and could have gone either way.
The Cougars move into the title match with a 22-2 record, while the Sunbirds will play for third place at 12-6.
#2 Point Loma 4, #3 Hawaii Pacific 2
The Sea Lions and Shark hooked up in an epic battle that ultimately saw Point Loma hang on for the win that advances them to the title match for the second straight year.
The two teams split two of the doubles matches before the team point was decided on court one when
Anna Pallencaoe and
Emely Valencia slipped by
Evi Roobol and
Annika Harkovirta, 7-6 (7-3).
In singles Roobol picked a three-set win on court one over
Alina Kupfer, 6-2, 5-7, 6-0, but PLNU got a point back on court two with Valencia’s win, 7-5, 6-4.
Kayleigh Castillo won 6-4, 6-4 for the Sharks at No. 3 to even the match at 2-2.
That left two long battles to decide the match.
Zoe Marley gave Point Loma the lead on court five after dropping the first set, 2-6, 6-1, 6-1, and
Melissa Zirkle clinched the match on court six with a 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 win over
Willow Dymkowski.
Point Loma is now 17-3 and Hawaii Pacific goes to 15-5.
#7 Biola 4, #6 Dominican 0
The Eagles bounced back from a narrow loss on Thursday to roll past Dominican 4-0 on Thursday afternoon.
Biola advances to the 5
th place match on Friday at 1 pm.
BU won the doubles point and then won quickly on courts four (
Alessia Rado, 6-2, 6-1) and court five (
Yeo Kyung Kim 6-0, 6-0). The match then ended abruptly when Dominican’s
Sofia Acuna had to retire at 5-5 in the first set with an injury.
DUC’s
Maria Gavrilov was just two games away from securing a point for the Penguins on court one, 6-1, 4-2 when the match ended.
Biola is now 11-8 on the season while Dominican is 9-10.
#5 Menlo 4, #8 Stanislaus State 1
In the longest match of the day, the Oaks held off the Warriors, 4-1.
Menlo won the doubles point, but Stanislaus State tied the match on court one with
Emma Yu’s 6-2, 6-2 win. The Oaks then regained the lead with
Gloria Jovic’s 6-0, 6-1 victory on court four, followed by
Ombeline Robilliart’s triumph on court five, 6-4, 6-1.
That put Menlo up 3-1, but it took awhile for anyone to claim the final team point. Finally,
Livia Harper clinched on court three, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3) in a gritty match against
Katrine Damjaer. The two remaining matches were deep into the third set but went unfinished.
Menlo is now 12-7 and will play Biola for fifth place on Friday. The Warriors move into the seventh place match at 7-11.