SURPRISE, Ariz.--Defending national champion Hawai`i Pacific ended Hawai`i Hilo's dream of a Pacific West Conference championship or NCAA tournament berth with a 5-0 victory in the PWC men's semi-finals on Friday morning at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex.

The Vulcans will now play BYU-Hawaii in the third place match on Saturday morning. The Seasiders lost to Azusa Pacific today in the other semi-final, 5-1. Hawai`i Hilo is now 12-11 on the season, while the No. 6 nationally ranked Sharks improved to 14-4 in 2017.

The Sharks set the tone early by sweeping doubles play in mostly decisive fashion. The best battle was on court three, where the UHH duo of Daniel Tada and Gregory Zukeran lost a tight match with Juan Erro and Filip Soban, 8-6.

That left HPU the task of only having to win two singles matches, and they did, halting the rest of the matches in progress. Erro won at No. 6 singles over Dillon Lam (6-2, 6-2) and Gerard Rodriguez clinched the team with on court four, defeating Stefan Coney, 6-3, 6-4. 

HPU, the west region's No. 1 ranked team, will now play No. 2 APU in the championship, also on Saturday morning. The winner gets the PWC's automatic berth into the NCAA National Championships. Two other teams from the west will also receive berths, which is expected to be the loser of the PWC title match and UC San Diego (who is not in the PWC tournament).

#6 Hawai'i Pacific 5, #40 Hawaii Hilo 0
Apr 21, 2017 at Surprise, Ariz. (Surprise Tennis & Raquet Complex) 

Singles competition

1. #7 Filip Dolezel (HPU) vs. #29 Vaclav Slezak (UHH) 6-2, 3-2, unfinished.

2. #10 Torben Otto (HPU) vs. Alex Fillat Perez (UHH) 6-3, 5-0, unfinished.

3. Jakub Hadrava (HPU) vs. Gregory Zukeran (UHH) 6-2, 3-3, unfinished.

4. Gerard A Rodriguez (HPU) def. Stefan Coney (UHH) 6-3, 6-4.

5. Filip Soban (HPU) vs. Bruno Figlia (UHH) 7-6 (8-6), 1-2, unfinished.

6. Juan Erro (HPU) def. Dillon Lam (UHH) 6-2, 6-2.

Doubles competition

1. #9 Filip Dolezel/Jakub Hadrava (HPU) def. Vaclav Slezak/Stefan Coney (UHH) 8-3.

2. Torben Otto/Jack Lyttle (HPU) def. Bruno Figlia/Alex Fillat Perez (UHH) 8-3.

3. Juan Erro/Filip Soban (HPU) def. Daniel Tada/Gregory Zukeran (UHH) 8-6.

Match Notes

Hawaii Hilo 12-11; National ranking #40; Regional ranking #5

Hawai'i Pacific 14-4; National ranking #6; Regional ranking #1

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (6,4)