SURPRiSE, ARIZ.—Azusa Pacific won a back and forth match with
Point Loma to claim the 2026 Pacific West Conference championship on Friday afternoon at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Center.
The Cougars earn the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA Championship tournament, the second week of May.
#1 Azusa Pacific 4, #2 Point Loma 2
Azusa Pacific won their third PacWest women’s tennis title in their final try with a gritty 4-2 win over Point Loma on a warm afternoon in Surprise.
The Cougars dropped the doubles point, but climbed back with three victories on the first trio of singles courts.
Stina Larsson won at No. 1 (6-3, 6-1),
Vini Bautista triumphed at No. 2 (6-4, 6-2) and
Karola Suviste was the winner on court three (6-3, 6-2) to put APU up 3-1.
But the match was far from over.
Point Loma’s
Zoe Marley won on court five at 6-4, 6-1 to pull the Sea Lions within a point. But it was still another hour and more before the match was decided.
On court six, APU’s
Kimberly Tran locked up with PLNU’s
Melissa Zirkle in an epic battle that took over three hours. Tran won the first set, but that was familiar territory for Zirkle, who had already won a pair of three-set matches in the tournament after losing the first set.
Zirkle did rally back, which included overcoming two match points in the second set tiebreaker to force a third set. The third set featured another back and forth with long rallies, and it including a medical time out for Tran. Finally, Tran held on for the clinching win with the final tally at 6-1, 6-7 (6-8), 7-5.
That left one other marathon match unfinished between
Perla Conde Verdell (PL) and
Shannel Lopez (APU). They were knotted at 5-5 in the third.
Azusa Pacific is now 23-2 heading into the postseason, while Point Loma, who will also see NCAA tournament play, is 17-4.
The Sportsmanship Award winner, voted on by the tournament coaches, is
Anna Palencaoe of Point Loma. Azusa Pacific’s Larsson was selected as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
THIRD PLACE—Hawaii Pacific 4, Fresno Pacific 2
Story to come.
FIFTH PLACE—Biola 4, Menlo 0
Story to come.
SEVENTH PLACE—Stanislaus State 4, Dominican 1
Story to come.